2026 Basketball Recruiting

[dayhiker]

 

[Bazza]

Wow!

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.

Former Kentucky guard Denzel Aberdeen heads back to Florida with hopes of getting another year

Former Kentucky guard Denzel Aberdeen is headed back to Florida — possibly to play basketball again.

apnews.com

 

[dtgreg]

Wow!

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.

Former Kentucky guard Denzel Aberdeen heads back to Florida with hopes of getting another year

Former Kentucky guard Denzel Aberdeen is headed back to Florida — possibly to play basketball again.

apnews.com

I'm totally ignorant of current "rules" here. Would a player today be able to Redshirt if only appearing in 12 games as a Frosh?

 

[day-day]

I'm totally ignorant of current "rules" here. Would a player today be able to Redshirt if only appearing in 12 games as a Frosh?

Currently, playing in one official game eliminates the player's eligibility for a regular redshirt.

Medical redshirt has the rule that the player has to have played in less than 30% of the team's games and the injury has to have occurred in the first half of the season.

I think changes to the redshirt rules are being looked at and could be implemented as early as this upcoming season.

 

[Bazza]

I'm totally ignorant of current "rules" here. Would a player today be able to Redshirt if only appearing in 12 games as a Frosh?

Sorry - no idea. Maybe @day-day's reply has that info.