In the modern day of collegiate athletics, one of the most important assets a college athlete can possess is experience.
Unlike NBA players who have already gone through it during their collegiate days, competing in hostile environments and do-or-die formats can be enough to negatively shake the mindset of a college player, hence the reason why college coaches tend to shop for seasoned players when scouring through the transfer portal.
For Kentucky, Mark Pope has stacked some experienced players during this offseason, including four rising upperclassmen: Mouhamed Dioubate, a rising junior transfer from Alabama, Jaland Lowe, a rising junior transfer from Pittsburgh, Denzel Aberdeen, a rising senior transfer from Florida and Reece Potter, a rising junior transfer from Miami (OH).
Together, the four have combined for 1,979 points throughout their collegiate careers and accumulated a total of 72.1 minutes per game this past season. However, through all the minutes and points produced from the four, one player’s box of experience stands out more than the rest and that is Aberdeen’s.
Aberdeen spent three seasons with the Florida Gators where he most recently just won a national title, playing in all six NCAA Tournament games while contributing a decent statline throughout each.
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 bring their third national title back to Gainesville. Aberdeen shot 50% from the field in the tournament and 40% from beyond the 3-point arch as well.
The Florida natives best March Madness showing came against No. 4 Maryland in the Sweet 16, scoring 12 points while also adding one rebound and one assist to his statline.
In the first round against No. 16 Norfolk State, Aberdeen scored eight points, whereas in the second round against No. 8 UConn he scored three points. In the Elite Eight against No. 3 Texas Tech, he scored three points and in the Final Four against No. 1 Auburn he scored three points once again.
In the national championship game against No. 1 Houston, he scored seven points and tallied two rebounds.
Out of the other three rising upperclassmen, Dioubate was the only other one to compete in the NCAA Tournament as Lowe and Potter failed to qualify for March Madness with Pittsburgh and Miami (OH) throughout their two years of playing there.
Dioubate went to the Final Four with Alabama in 2024 but didn’t have the same NCAA National Championship opportunity as Aberdeen did. Dioubate also averaged nine less total minutes in the NCAA Tournament than Aberdeen did.
Aberdeen got to witness and live through what it takes to win a national title and now, he gets to bring his experience and mentor the Cats around him and they all have one aspiration: to bring a ninth national title back to Lexington.
