Gators' Aberdeen Granted Temporary Injunction, Eligible for 2026-27 Season

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Denzel Aberdeen is officially eligible for the Florida Gators’ 2026-27 season.

Aberdeen, who was seeking a fifth year of eligibility, was granted a temporary injunction against the NCAA by the Honorable Judge George Wright in the Eighth Judicial Circuit Court of Alachua County. The NCAA had initially denied his waiver in May and is expected to appeal Tuesday’s ruling.

“We’re pleased with today’s ruling, and we’re especially happy for Denzel,” head coach Todd Golden said.

A member of the 2022 recruiting class, Aberdeen was not initially included in the NCAA’s new “five-for-five” eligibility update and exhausted his four-year eligibility after last season, which he spent at Kentucky. Aberdeen spent the previous three seasons at Florida, which included a freshman season in which he played just 41 total minutes as a reserve.

He averaged 13.6 points while shooting 36.3 percent from deep last season with the Wildcats.

Another large part of Aberdeen’s argument was that he never entered the NBA Draft or signed with any professional team and immediately enrolled at Florida after committing.

Both Golden and athletic director Scott Stricklin in the months leading up to Tuesday’s ruling had expressed confidence that the NCAA would grant his waiver request and, if not, they would prevail in the courts.

“This isn't a 27-year-old trying to play his eighth year in college at his sixth different school,”Golden said in late April. “This is a 22-year-old within his fifth-year clock coming back to get his degree. And I think it would be a really weird stance to try to fight him from playing.

“Now if he had played 30 games and played 15 minutes a night, we wouldn't be going down this path. But to me there's a common sense approach on Denzel that I think should be solved pretty quickly."

Aberdeen was also temporarily ruled eligible over the summer after Judge Carlotte Sweeney in July ordered the NCAA to rule all members of the class of 2022 eligible but was then deemed ineligible after the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in August granted the NCAA a stay of the initial court ruling.

Now eligible, Aberdeen solidifies a starting lineup for what should be the preseason No. 1 team in the country. Florida returns four starters in guard Boogie Fland, wing Thomas Haugh, forward Alex Condon and center Rueben Chinyelu. Aberdeen is expected to start at guard alongside Fland.

Florida opens the season on Nov. 3 against rival Miami in Tampa.

Enjoy our content? Make Florida Gators on SI a Preferred Source to see more stories from us on Google: https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=si.com

Add us as a preferred source on Google