"He’s special, special, special": Mark Pope predicts huge season for "terrifying" Florida transfer Denzel Aberdeen

Kentucky men's basketball head coach Mark Pope praised Denzel Aberdeen, whom he recruited from the transfer portal ahead of the 2025-26 season. Aberdeen hit the transfer after helping the Florida Gators win the 2025 men's national championship.

Describing the 6-foot-5 combo guard as terrifying, Pope reflected on his decision to add Aberdeen to the Kentucky team.

“There was no evaluation,” Pope said to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein on X (formerly Twitter). “My evaluation came in the two weeks that we were trying to do like background prep and then prep for our game against Florida, which was the first game of the SEC season.

"So I had some familiarity with their team, but as I dug more and more into the film, I was like, ‘This cat coming off the bench is terrifying to me.’ And he certainly proved it throughout the course of the season.”

Pope also revealed his impression of the former Gators guard after taking some time to do his research.

“The fun part of the research for us was actually getting to know him as a person,” Pope continued. “He’s special, special, special. He’s got a great joy about him. He’s got a passion and commitment. He is determined to continue his journey toward becoming a great basketball player."

“He’s proven with what he did in his four-guard rotation at Florida that he is a team-first guy. And it’s hard to have a breakout season after you just won a national championship, but he’s going to have a big-time breakout season,” he added.

Last season, Aberdeen made 39 appearances and five starts for Florida, where he averaged 7.7 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 19.7 minutes per game. One of his best games for the Gators was during their 87-71 win over Maryland in the Sweet Sixteen. Aberdeen tallied 12 points on 5 of 7 shooting.

He had seven points and two rebounds in 18 minutes of action in the National Championship game.

Denzel Aberdeen reveals what Kentucky HC Mark Pope said after joining the Wildcats

Three days after entering the portal, Denzel Aberdeen committed to Mark Pope's Kentucky Wildcats. Two days after his commitment, Aberdeen revealed what Pope said to him in an interview with KSR’s Jacob Polacheck.

“[Mark Pope] said that I’m a winner, and that’s what we’re trying to do at Kentucky,” Aberdeen said. “We’re trying to get championship No. 9. Once he said that, it was a no-brainer. Obviously, I want to go back-to-back.”

Aberdeen was ranked the 88th player and No. 5 combo guard in On3’s 2025 Transfer Portal Player Rankings. Although his transfer decision was deemed a surprise, there are speculations that the move was financially motivated.