The Florida Gators are coming off of arguably their best season in program history.
Leading the way through the magical run was head coach Todd Golden, who won college basketball's ultimate prize in just his third season with the Gators.
A large part of the Gators' success came through key bench player Denzel Aberdeen, who even took on a starting role for a few games when starter Alijah Martin went down with an injury. The playmaker was even expected to jump into a starting role in his senior year.
But as we know in this day of college sports, nothing is guaranteed. Aberdeen eventually hit the portal and took his talents to rival Kentucky in a move that of course angered the Florida fanbase.
And in what seems to be a shot back towards the Kentucky side, Todd Golden commented on the Aberdeen departure during his appearance on Jon Rothstein's 'Inside College Basketball Now.'
Rivalry runs deep
Golden expressed his displeasure with the current world of college sports, but made sure to not disrespect Aberdeen and his contributions to Florida's third national championship:
"Denzel's a great young man... [He] took advantage of the new world of college basketball and free agency and had a program like Kentucky, you know, that was able to come in here and take advantage... give him an opportunity, both from a basketball standpoint and financially, that was probably too good for him to turn down."
Golden's phrasing of the situation perfectly sums up just how everything transpired. Aberdeen's move to the Wildcats was speculated to be mostly due to financial reasons, and Golden surely knows it to be true.
Golden left off the segment with an message that may not have been directed towards Aberdeen, but it definitely feels like it.
"He's going to have to come back into the O'Dome and get received by our fans."
That's for sure the truth. The O'Dome cemented itself as one of the rowdiest venues in college basketball this past season, and fans will make their displeasure with Aberdeen heard.