GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Former Kentucky guard Denzel Aberdeen is headed back to Florida — possibly to play basketball again.
Aberdeen visited with the Gators on Friday and then announced he is planning to re-enroll at the university to finish his undergraduate degree.
“Thankful for the opportunity to finish my academic journey back home at the place where it started,” Aberdeen wrote in an Instagram post.
He also would like to finish his basketball career where it started. Aberdeen spent three years at Florida and helped the Gators win the national championship in 2025. He transferred to Kentucky for what was supposed to be his final season and lost all three meetings against his former team.
Now, he's back and hoping to convince the NCAA that his freshman year in Gainesville should be considered a redshirt season. The 6-foot-5 Orlando native played just 12 games in 2022-23, scoring 19 points in 41 total minutes. He would need a waiver from the NCAA to land another year of eligibility.
If he does get it, he would end up wearing orange and blue again.
Aberdeen would slide into a roster spot — likely a starting role, too — that opened with the departure of Xaivian Lee. He also would make Florida an immediate championship contender considering coach Todd Golden already retained most of last year's roster. The Gators also expect to get starting big men Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu back for their senior season. Still up in the air is the future of leading scorer and potential NBA lottery pick Thomas Haugh.
Aberdeen started 35 games for Kentucky this past season, averaging 13.5 points, 3.4 assists and 2.5 rebounds. He came off the bench the previous two years at Florida and averaged 7.7 points as a junior in 2024-25.
Aberdeen's case comes as an NCAA panel is preparing to discuss potential changes to eligibility rules that would include an age limit.
The proposal, which mirrors language written in the executive order issued by President Donald Trump last week, would give athletes five years of eligibility with the clock starting when an athlete turns 19 or graduates from high school, whichever is earliest. There would be limited exceptions, but they would not include injuries, which has been a common reason for players to ask for and receive extra eligibility.
The details will be reviewed and discussed by the Division I Cabinet next week, but not voted on for implementation, according to two people who spoke to The Associated Press.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity earlier this week because the NCAA hasn’t publicly discussed the proposal.
Trump called for “clear, consistent and fair eligibility limits, including a five-year participation window” that limits athletes to one transfer with one more available once they get a four-year degree.
Speaking at the Final Four over the weekend, NCAA President Charlie Baker said Trump wanted to figure out a way to “get something on the books that works and represents what most people are looking for at this point, which is a much simpler eligibility process, which we’ve been talking to our committees about.”
Still unknown is whether the rule would shield the NCAA from lawsuits over eligibility. Dozens of players have sued for extra years, claiming injuries and other circumstances made them candidates for more playing time.
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