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UF students chant 'Florida dropout' at Kentucky's Denzel Aberdeen during FT attempts

IMG_0985by: Griffin McVeigh02/14/26griffin_mcveigh

A familiar face is returning to Gainesville for the first time in a while. Kentucky guard Denzel Aberdeen is playing his old team and Florida fans are letting him hear it. After making a good deal of noise in the opening 20 minutes, a chant has broken out early in the second half to let Aberdeen know their thoughts.

“Florida dropout” is coming from the student section. Mainly when Aberdeen is at the free-throw line, attempting to create a distraction.

Fans are always going to get a little bit louder when opposing players are at the charity stripe. But with Aberdeen leaving the program following a national championship, an extra chirp or two is thrown his way. You can check out the full moment, captured by Julianna Reichenbach, here.

This topic actually came up this morning when Todd Golden joined ESPN College GameDay on Saturday morning. Golden had nothing but nice things to say about Aberdeen. At the same time, the Florida head coach expected something like this to take place. He was even in favor of the fans letting Aberdeen have it, attempting to make him uncomfortable.

“He’s a great kid,” Golden said. “Obviously, he made a decision that he thought was best for him. I’m pretty confident that the people here in the O-Dome today a little bit. Hopefully, respectfully, of course, but I imagine every time he touches the ball, they’re going to be let him have it a little bit. And my hope is our guys don’t allow him to get comfortable at his old stomping grounds, either.”

Aberdeen spent three seasons at Florida, really seeing his role come to fruition last season. He was a big part of the equation coming off the bench, starting just five of his 39 appearances. Career highs were set across the board for Aberdeen, averaging 7.7 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game.

Entering the NCAA transfer portal instantly made Aberdeen a sought-after player. Kentucky wound up winning the recruitment. Mark Pope has to be quite happy with the investment thus far. Aberdeen is putting up even better numbers as a member of the Kentucky starting lineup, scoring 12.3 points per game and producing more than double the amount of assists.

There will be another matchup between these two later in the year. Of course, Aberdeen is looking to win Saturday’s contest. However, a lot more friendly reception will be waiting for him on March 7 in Lexington.