Florida Basketball fans were disappointed on Friday when Denzel Aberdeen opted to hit the transfer portal and eventually wind up with Kentucky. On paper, Aberdeen had a clear pathway to a starting job with 30+ minutes a night in 2025/26 had he stayed in Gainesville, but reports of a potential $2 million NIL deal led Aberdeen to Lexington.
In an interview with On3, his father, Ian Aberdeen, laid out how the last week went down and, in the process, didn't exactly have complimentary things to say about Florida.
All fair in love and war with Florida and Kentucky
In the interview, Ian Aberdeen basically admitted Florida and the Aberdeen camp weren't close on a NIL deal for the upcoming season, and that was the spark that led to the portal.
As much as Gator fans would have liked Denzel to stay, the reality is that every man has his price, and if someone was willing to pay the $2 million asking price, then it is what it is.
What felt unnecessary in the interview was trying to paint a picture that Florida never believed in Denzel.
At one point, Ian Aberdeen called Kentucky a "dream school" for Denzel.
So, three years at Florida having it ingrained to be better than Kentucky goes out the window once money gets involved?
To be fair, he isn't going to come out and say, "Yeah, I mean, we never liked Kentucky, but they paid us more money," but it is the backend of the interview when Ian Aberdeen makes it seem like there was more friction than just money.
"His game is very, very unselfish, sometimes to a fault. The more he continued playing, even up to this point, he just needed a place where he could expand his game and show what he could do."
If you are keeping score at home, Aberdeen had two assists in 108 minutes of playing time during the NCAA Tournament.
"He hasn't really shown what he can do. You could see spurts of it at Florida and even previously, but he wants a coach who believes in him."
Do we really have to play the "No one believed in him" card on the way out the door?
Aberdeen was a three-star prospect originally offered by Mike White, who Todd Golden kept on board and developed into someone who got 18 minutes a night on a national title squad.
But rather than saying something like, "We thank Florida and Todd Golden for the past three years, and we understand choices have to be made. We are thankful he was able to have a role in winning a national title," the interview comes across as "Well why wasn't my son the star on this team?"
Most Gator fans will appreciate Aberdeen's role on the team this past season, and his ability to score off the bench was huge in spots.
But in 2025/26, Aberdeen will be a Kentucky Wildcat.
And as the saying goes, if you ain't a Gator...