Florida guard Denzel Aberdeen 'felt like it was fair' to grant him another year of eligibility

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — When Denzel Aberdeen toured the Florida basketball facility in April, he still had the locker room code.

It hadn’t changed. Little had, really.

Aberdeen’s return to the Gators has been mostly smooth despite waiting five months to get cleared to play. Circuit court judge George Wright granted Aberdeen an injunction this week that provided him a fifth year of college eligibility.

“I always thought I should get (cleared) because I played against fifth years, sixth years, seventh years my whole life,” Aberdeen said Thursday. “Just thinking that rule applies for us as well. … Feel like it was fair.”

The decision should make Florida a popular — possibly unanimous — choice as preseason No. 1.

“No other team in the country has what we got going on right now,” Florida forward Thomas Haugh said.

Aberdeen was the final piece — and an important one.

The 6-foot-5 guard played three seasons at Florida before transferring to Kentucky last year. He re-enrolled at Florida following an official visit — a mere formality — and started working toward finishing his undergraduate degree this summer.

He has worked out and practiced with the Gators since, seamlessly rejoining teammates in nearly every aspect of their daily lives. The possibility of missing another year of college hoops, though, loomed.

“He trusted us and kind of the plan we laid out for him,” coach Todd Golden said. “Guys in our program, I think, would say the same thing. You would not know that this guy was kind of hanging in the balance of whether he’s going to go to play an additional year or not.

“I think it speaks to his maturity and his trust in us. I think he’s relieved now, but he does a good job of keeping his emotions inside. And it was never something that we were concerned about.”

Aberdeen expressed relief about the judge’s decision. He said waiting in the courtroom was more nerve-wracking than anything that happened in the 2025 national championship game against Houston.

He initially tried to convince the NCAA that his freshman year in Gainesville should be considered a redshirt season. The Orlando native played only 12 games in 2022-23, scoring 19 points in 41 total minutes, and sought a waiver for another year of eligibility.

But the NCAA denied that request and has since adopted an eligibility model that will allow players in every sport five years of eligibility, with the clock starting when they turn 19 or graduate from high school, whichever is earlier.

That change led to lawsuits from four-year players in the high school class of 2022, like Aberdeen.

“We felt like he had a very compelling case,” Golden said. “He’s a great example of a student-athlete who is in progress towards a degree and got in the portal when he was supposed to. And the NCAA has made it pretty clear they think five years is a good timeframe for student-athletes to graduate in, so we felt good about it.”

Now, the Gators feel even better about their chances on the court than they did in the court.

Haugh, Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu turned down NBA riches to return for their senior seasons. Point guard Boogie Fland and seven role players, including Southeastern Conference sixth man of the year Urban Klavzar, also stayed in Gainesville for another title run.

The defending national champion Gators beat Aberdeen three times last season before losing to Iowa in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. That game gutted many Florida players, most notably Haugh, and helped keep the core intact.

Aberdeen watched from afar and knew he wanted to rejoin Florida. He started 35 games for the Wildcats last 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.

“He’s back in his comfort zone,” Golden said. “He’s playing really, really well. We’ve challenged him to defend really hard. He’s put a lot of pride into that. He’s rebounded well. I think he’s going to have a great year for us.”

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