By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Mark Pope is excited about the addition of Florida transfer Denzel Aberdeen.
“Denzel is a winner, in every sense of the word.” Pope said. “He has won at every level of basketball, and that’s all that he talks about. Zel is a great young man who works for everything he earns. He’s a three-level scorer and a rangy defender who has tremendous length.”
Aberdeen played three seasons at Florida and was the team’s sixth man off the bench last year and was a key component in the Gators’ national title run. He played in 83 games at Florida, averaging 5.1 points per game. He scored 22 points in a win over South Carolina and was instrumental off the bench in an 87-71 win over Maryland in the Sweet Sixteen. He scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor.
The transfer portal closes at the end of Tuesday.
Kentucky’s recruiting in the portal is considered one of the best in the nation, along with Southeastern Conference foe Auburn. The Cats have added Aberdenn, former Arizona State forward Jayden Quaintance, former Alabama forward Mouhamed Dioubate, former Tulane guard Kam Williams, and former Pittsburgh point guard Jaland Lowe.
UK will also be bringing in five-star guard Jasper Johnson, McDonald’s All-American post player Malachi Moreno and Croatian big man Andrija Jelavic as first-year players.
Leading scorer Otega Oweh has declared for the NBA Draft, but is expected to return next season. Post player Brandon Garrison, guards Collin Chandler and Travis Perry and forward Trent Noah have announced their intentions to return.
WOODS HIRED
Former Kentucky guard Sean Woods was hired as the boys high school basketball coach at Scott County on Tuesday.
Woods played on Kentucky’s 1992 squad that lost to Duke in the 1992 regional finals, a squad that was nicknamed the ‘Unforgetables.” Woods served as head coach at Morehead State for four seasons and has been away from the sidelines for the past two seasons. His last stint was at Southern University.
“When we met, it was a natural situation,” Woods told the Georgetown News-Graphic. “I’m a basketball coach, not just a college basketball coach. With the tradition and the support and the pride that Scott County has for basketball, it’s a perfect fit.”
Woods takes over a Scott County program that fell on tough times following a split in the county that resulted in the addition of Great Crossing, this year’s state champion.
The late Billy Hicks led Scott County to state titles in 1998 and 2007. He also won 13 11th Region titles. Hicks passed away in 2023.