After Florida won the national championship in 2025, anything less than that was obviously going to be considered a disappointment. The Gators did not repeat and couldn’t even make it out of the second round of the NCAA Tournament, falling to an upstart Iowa club after claiming the SEC regular season title. Regardless of those shortcomings, Todd Golden enters his fifth year in Gainesville and might have his most talented team to date.
Even two years later, the Gators still have a few major pieces from that title-winning team. What’s even more important is that a large chunk of Florida’s roster is back this season. Xaivian Lee departs after his lone year in the Florida backcourt while Micah Handlogten is also out of eligibility. Everyone else returns, and it’s a king’s ransom of returning talent.
Alex Condon, Thomas Haugh, and Rueben Chinyelu will continue to helm one of the nation’s best frontcourts, with all three back for their senior years. There’s a couple new faces on the roster, but Boogie Fland is back after showing potential as a sophomore, with hopes for a more consistent second season at Florida. Fellow rising juniors Isaiah Brown and Urban Klavzar return in the backcourt but the Gators’ lone transfer addition suddenly becomes their most important guard.
National champion Denzel Aberdeen has returned to the Gators and should be eligible this upcoming season thanks to a myriad of court rulings. A 6-5 guard from Orlando, he spent his first three seasons largely as a backup player in Gainesville, though he became important down the stretch during Florida’s championship season. Aberdeen spent last season at Kentucky, averaging 13.5 points and 3.4 assists with the Wildcats in his first year as a full-time starter.
Now Aberdeen comes back to Florida for what should be an exciting fourth year with the Gators. As we teased earlier, he’s far from the only returning piece from that title-winning team, including those three major forces in the frontcourt. Aberdeen got his chance last season and was a solid shooter and scorer for the Wildcats after sitting behind some impressive guards earlier in his career. Back in Gainesville, it’s his shot to run the show once again, stepping into that lead guard role vacated by Lee in the offseason.
The starting five of Fland, Aberdeen, Haugh, Condon, and Chinyelu is one of the best in the nation and there’s no debating that. The experience, raw talent, and potential in this roster is off the charts, and aside from Fland we’ve already seen what these players can do. Being the only transfer addition, Aberdeen was always going to be the featured player in this piece, but let’s not ignore his importance this season. If he can be that featured scorer and playmaker, then that only helps a veteran Gators team try to reclaim national glory.
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