Denzel Aberdeen’s path to a fifth season at Florida finally got a green light on Tuesday, when Judge George M. Wright of Florida’s Eighth Judicial Circuit granted the guard a temporary injunction in his lawsuit against the NCAA.
For now, that means Aberdeen is cleared to play after months of waiting and legal wrangling. Florida coach Todd Golden welcomed the ruling, saying, "We're pleased with today's ruling, and we're especially happy for Denzel," Florida head coach Todd Golden said.
Aberdeen’s attorney, Jesse Panuccio, said in a statement to The Field of 68 that the case was about letting Aberdeen compete under the NCAA’s 5-in-5 rule. “Denzel Aberdeen, a senior at Florida, should be allowed to compete as a student-athlete under the NCAA’s 5-in-5 rule,” Panuccio said in his statement.
“But the NCAA has announced an unwritten exception to its rule that strips Class of 2022 students from this policy, even though they competed for years against fifth-, sixth- and sometimes seventh-year seniors who received COVID-era eligibility waivers. The NCAA’s decision violates its contractual commitment to fairness to all student-athletes, and we have sued to vindicate Aberdeen’s rights and get him back on the court as he finishes his degree at UF.”
The ruling is the latest twist in a long eligibility fight that began when Aberdeen announced on April 10 that he planned to return to Florida for a fifth year, pending NCAA approval. He briefly appeared set to gain that extra season on July 31, when Judge Charlotte Sweeney of the U.S.
District Court of Colorado issued a class-wide ruling that would have given all Class of 2022 athletes who completed their fourth season in the spring another year. But the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals later reversed course, voting 2-1 to stop Judge Sweeney’s decision.
Aberdeen’s argument traces back to his freshman year at Florida, when he played only 40 minutes over 12 games.
Golden said on April 22 that the situation made sense from the start. “It’s just a common-sense situation,” Golden said April 22.
“This isn't a 27-year-old trying to play his eighth year in college at his sixth different school; this is a 22-year-old within his fifth year clock coming back to get his degree. It would be a really weird stance to try to fight him from playing.”
With the injunction in place, Aberdeen is now positioned to start at shooting guard for a Florida team expected to open the 2026-27 season ranked No. 1. He is projected to line up next to Boogie Fland in the backcourt, and Fland said Thursday that the pair could be a dangerous duo.
“I feel like it goes on the court the way it goes off the court, you know what I mean?” Fland said. “The brotherhood you have off the court, it trickles into the court.”
Aberdeen spent his first three seasons with the Gators and played a key bench role during Florida’s 2025 national championship run. In that junior season, he averaged 7.7 points and 19.7 minutes per game.
After that title season, he transferred to Kentucky and put up 13.6 points and 3.4 assists per game. He started 35 of 26 contests for the Wildcats and averaged 17 points per game in three games against Florida last season.
Now, with his fifth year cleared, Aberdeen is set for a major role as Florida begins its chase for another title on Nov. 2 against Miami in Tampa.
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