When news came down on Friday that Florida Gator guard Denzel Aberdeen was hitting the transfer portal, the reaction from most Gator fans was, "Wait, what?" Aberdeen is an Orlando native who waited his turn for three years and, on paper, was going to be slotted in as a starter for Florida next season.
But this is a new era of college basketball, and in reality, the only thing we should be surprised about is that we were surprised in the first place.
Florida fans will see Denzel Aberdeen next season
Multiple entities have reported that Aberdeen will be transferring to Kentucky for the 2025/26 season.
When it comes to basketball, this has the same vibe as when Trevor Etienne transferred to Georgia, but it is also important to note these are not the same situations.
If you wanted to defend Etienne, and I'm not saying you have to do that, he left Florida after going 12-14 during his first two seasons and transferred to a program that had actual national title aspirations.
And off-the-field issues aside, Etienne scored the game-winning touchdown in the SEC Championship Game, so in his mind, he would probably say he made the right call.
Aberdeen is doing the reverse of that. He just won a national title and had a clear pathway in Gainesville to be a returning starter.
At his new home, the Wildcats haven't been to the Final Four since 2015 and have just one national title since 2000. Plus, he also doesn't have a clear pathway to start in Lexington like he did in Gainesville.
So why leave?
Money.
In truth, Aberdeen's departure feels closer to what we saw Jack Pyburn did when he transferred to LSU, with reports floating around that he, too, was seeking a big payday.
We won't know the exact price tag Kentucky paid, but Matt Norlander of CBS Sports reported that Aberdeen was seeking a deal of up to $2 million.
Aberdeen remains in the SEC after leaving his projected starting spot at Florida. Was told his decision to leave UF came w/ an asking price of $2 million for next season. Regardless of whether or not UK matched that request, the Cats aren't hurting for cash in this year's cycle. https://t.co/zRV79GEhr7
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) April 21, 2025
That's just the reality of the NIL Era, and as much as we as fans value rivalries, more and more players are valuing money.
And so even though Aberdeen has spent the last three years conditioned to hate Kentucky with every fiber of his body, as the idiom goes, every man has his price.
Welcome to college basketball in 2025.