A Rivalry and Reunion

Saturday, February 14

Gainesville, FL

3 PM

Florida Gators

Kentucky

during the Gators' game against the Jacksonville Dolphins on Thursday, November 7, 2024 at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center in Gainesville, FL / UAA Communications photo by Maddie Washburn

UF coach Todd Golden and former guard Denzel Aberdeen, now the starting point guard at Kentucky, during the 2024-25 season.

Friday, February 13, 2026 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The date was set and a blast notification sent out.

The Florida Gators, the 2025 NCAA men's basketball champions, had been booked for a May 21 visit to the White House.

Their run to the title ended less than a month before. Several coaches and staff members had moved on to different jobs. The team's star players were jet-setting around the country as part of the NBA evaluation process. Three others transferred to new schools. Regardless of their whereabouts, the University Athletic Association was committed to arranging travel for everyone to be together again for the ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Denzel Aberdeen declined.

Aberdeen, the standout reserve and first guard off the bench, played a pivotal, unforgettable role on that championship squad, at one point starting four consecutive games during a stretch of Southeastern Conference wins. Aberdeen, however, had transferred to – of all places – the University of Kentucky a few weeks earlier. The soft-spoken, understated point guard thought it best to avoid the awkwardness of the situation.

Walter Clayton Jr., though, wasn't having it. The NCAA hero and first first-team All American in program history reached out to his teammate, the one they affectionately called "Zel," and made it clear that the team not only wanted Aberdeen there, but needed him there. Will Richard and Alijah Martin seconded the motion.

Their message: "We love you and you're going. Period!"

Kentucky point guard **Denzel Aberdeen** (1) is averaging 12.3 points, 3.2 assists and shooting 37.5% from the 3-point line, with the Wildcats on a run of wins in eight of their previous nine games.

Now, fast forward to present day.

"We all love Zel," junior forward Thomas Haugh said after practice Friday.

Come Saturday afternoon?

"We all want to beat Zel," Haugh added, which is the way it should be.

It's probably too much to ask, especially in a rivalry as heated as this one, for the Florida fans filing into Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center to arrive with a similar outlook – at least until the ball is tossed – when the 14^th-ranked Gators (18-6, 9-2) face the 25^th-ranked Wildcats (17-7, 8-3) in their 3 p.m. Saturday clash between the two hottest teams in the Southeastern Conference.

[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]

The right thing to do would be for UF fans to cheer Aberdeen when he's introduced with the UK starters, then root with all their bile for Big Blue for his team to lose the game.

Aberdeen's Florida ties and role in winning one of the greatest championships in Gators athletic history should not warrant anything similar to the treatment and taunts – to choose the most recent example – Alabama's Charles Bediako got at the last home game.

Take it from the Gators "GOAT" himself.

"Denzel is our brother," said Clayton, now a Memphis Grizzly, who opted to spend his NBA All-Star weekend back in town. "We won a national championship with him."

Clayton, who will be seated courtside for the UK game with Richard, now of the Golden State Warriors, even toyed with the idea of wearing an Aberdeen No. 11 Florida jersey, but opted for a lower profile support. He'll applaud for Aberdeen during pregame, probably swap a hug, then go all-in on the Gators at tip-off.

Let's hear it for decency.

"Denzel is a great kid and was never an issue for us, and I'm grateful for what he did while he was here," UF coach Todd Golden said Friday when asked about the Wildcats' second-leading scorer at 12.3 points per game and one of their top 3-point shooters at 37.5%. "I'm happy he's doing really well. Obviously, he's helped their team quite a bit [to] get right these last couple months, and put them in a position where they're competing. But for us, it's another game, and I don't anticipate [his return] being an issue or distraction for us."

Hopefully, Florida fans haven't forgotten his inspirational story.

Aberdeen was a three-star recruit who helped lead Orlando Dr. Phillips to the 2021 Class 7A state title and signed with former UF coach Mike White during the fall of his senior prep season. He could've gone elsewhere after the arrival of the new coaching staff, but wanted to be a Gator.

The bulk of Aberdeen's freshman and sophomore seasons hardly went as he planned – few quality minutes, mostly mop-up duty – until a breakout 20-point performance (4-for-5 from the 3-point line) in a win over Texas A&M in the semifinals of the 2024 SEC Tournament.

After either of those first two seasons (when he averaged just 2.8 points over 44 games, including a mere 1.8 in 21 SEC appearances), no one would have blamed Aberdeen had he bailed for more playing time elsewhere; especially with Clayton and Richard coming back for their senior seasons, plus the addition of Martin, the fifth-year graduate with Final Four pedigree from Florida Atlantic. Instead, Aberdeen bought into the old-school blueprint of improving his game and growing in a program that valued him.

"It's not supposed to be easy. That's what my parents kept telling me," Aberdeen said in the fall of 2024. "They said, 'You have to go through hard times in life. Stick it out. Push through.' They said it would make me a better player, but also a better man."

Sure enough, as a junior, Aberdeen was outstanding in his role as first guard off the bench and was at his best during a five-game stretch when he replaced the injured Clayton and Martin in the starting lineup, averaging 30 minutes and 14.4 points, while shooting 41.3% from the 3-point line during five huge wins.

Along the way, Aberdeen came to one pregame media session and was asked about his personal goals for the season. His answer was a team goal: "Win a national championship."

Aberdeen, as it turned out, scored the last point of UF's 65-63 win over Houston in the NCAA title game at San Antonio. He cried on the floor as the confetti rained down.

Three weeks later, following exit meetings with coaches and some personal soul-searching, Aberdeen entered the transfer portal, where he eventually got a funny money NIL offer from Kentucky that made what Florida was pitching pale in comparison.

Like all college players, Aberdeen has dreams of playing in the NBA. Fact: 1% of college players get drafted. After doing it the old-fashioned way for three collegiate seasons, it's hard to begrudge a young man for making a life-changing financial decision for himself and his family. That's not only reasonable, but reality in the landscape of college sports right now.

How did new UF football coach Jon Sumrall put in his session with the media last week?

"You can sit here and whine and complain about the way the rules are," Sumrall said. "Or you can just embrace them and try to adapt and make them work the best for you."

That goes both ways.

There may be those who Saturday see Aberdeen as a traitor. It would be nice, if only for that brief pregame moment, they remembered what he did as a Gator.

Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu. Find his story archives here.