Mark Pope, the new men’s basketball coach of the University of Kentucky, conducts his first press conference at Lexington, Kentucky’s Rupp Arena on Sunday, April 14, 2024. Abbey Cutrer | Staff Photo Experience is one of the most valuable things a collegiate athlete can have in today’s collegiate sports environment.
College coaches typically look for seasoned players when searching the transfer portal because, unlike NBA players who have already experienced it during their collegiate days, competing in hostile environments and do-or-die formats can be enough to negatively shake a college player’s mindset.
Mark Pope has added a number of seasoned players to Kentucky’s roster this offseason, including four rising upperclassmen: Reece Potter, a rising junior transfer from Miami (OH); Denzel Aberdeen, a rising senior transfer from Florida; Jaland Lowe, a rising junior transfer from Pittsburgh; and Mouhamed Dioubate, a rising junior transfer from Alabama.
Throughout their collegiate careers, the four have scored 1,979 points between them, and during the most recent season, they averaged 72.1 minutes per game. Nevertheless, Aberdeen’s experience box sticks out more than the others’ despite all the minutes and points the four players have contributed.Aberdeen played in all six NCAA Tournament games and contributed a respectable statline during his three seasons with the Florida Gators, where he most recently earned a national championship.
The 6-foot-5 guard averaged 18.2 minutes per game in the big dance while boasting an average of six points per game in route to helping the Gators win their third national title back to Gainesville. During the competition, Aberdeen shot 40% from beyond the 3-point arch and 50% from the field.
The Florida native’s biggest March Madness performance occurred in the Sweet 16 versus No. 4 Maryland, where he scored 12 points, grabbed one rebound, and dished out one assist.
