By Field Level Media
Oct 15 (Field Level Media) – The Florida Gators were already in great shape entering the 2026-27 college basketball season, returning four starters from a team that went 16-2 in Southeastern Conference play and earned a second straight No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
They then received confirmation earlier this month that guard Denzel Aberdeen would be eligible after winning a temporary injunction that granted him a fifth season of eligibility, adding to Todd Golden’s arsenal as he pursues a second national championship.
Golden confirmed Wednesday at SEC media days in Birmingham, Ala., that he expects to have Aberdeen available.
“He’s eligible right now. He won his temporary injunction. The NCAA is trying to keep him from playing, just like any other person in that class, which is a conversation for a different day,” Golden said. “We remain very confident. … We’re planning on having him and we feel good about it.”
Aberdeen played his first three seasons at Florida before transferring to Kentucky last season, where he averaged 13.5 points and a team-high 3.4 assists per game. He decided to transfer back to Florida in hopes of becoming eligible, a goal that now appears likely to be realized.
Pairing the veteran guard with Thomas Haugh, a first-team All-SEC selection last season, and Rueben Chinyelu, a second-team All-SEC selection and the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, among others, has the Gators feeling confident.
After winning the program’s third national title in 2024-25, Golden’s third season, Chinyelu expressed strong confidence in Florida’s chances this year. The Gators were picked to win the conference in the preseason media poll.
“There’s no if (we win the national title this season). We’re winning it,” Chinyelu said. “We want this really bad and we’re going to get it.”
— Arkansas gave John Calipari the opportunity to remain one of college basketball’s highest-profile coaches when the Razorbacks hired him two years ago amid a tenuous tenure at Kentucky.
He’s delivered results on the court, taking Arkansas to the Sweet 16 in each of his first two seasons. He now has recruiting success to match, landing the nation’s top high school recruiting class, according to the 247Sports composite rankings.
Arkansas signed eight freshmen and just two transfers. The freshman class includes five-star prospects Jordan Smith Jr. (No. 2 overall and No. 1 shooting guard in the class), JJ Andrews (No. 13 overall) and small forward Abdou Toure (No. 16 overall), along with five top-100 prospects.
While the Razorbacks, who were picked to finish third in the SEC, have generated confidence outside the program, Calipari still needs to see how his newcomers handle the grind of a full season at this level.
“I’m loving what I’m seeing. But for anybody to predict this team, you’re crazy. I don’t have an idea,” Calipari said. “Will we be good? Will we be real good? Will we be bad? I don’t know yet. When you’re talking 17, 18, some 19-year-olds, how are they going to react when they get punched in the mouth? Don’t know yet. How do they react if they’re not playing the minutes they want to play? I don’t know yet.”
— Sean Miller, who won his 500th game in January and became the first Texas coach to lead the team to the Sweet 16 in his first season at the school, said the Longhorns are changing their pace of play this season.
“My hope when you watch us this year is you see the rekindled pace,” he said. “We want to play faster. That’s in our team’s best interest. But I also hope we can remain efficient — free-throw attempts; inside shots; taking good, quality shots; taking care of the ball. I think you’ll see a big change in the pace of play from a year ago and how we did it.”
Regarding Marcus Spears Jr., the No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2027 who reclassified and will join the Longhorns this season, Miller said the forward reminded him of Aaron Gordon as a freshman when Miller coached at Arizona.
“I say that in a very complimentary way because Aaron Gordon as a freshman was elite,” Miller said. “He helped lead us right to the threshold of a Final Four.
“Marcus shares his maturity, his work ethic, his talent. Also Marcus’ ability on defense for somebody as young as he is, you can make the argument he helps us as much on that side of the ball as he does offensively.”
Miller also provided an update on guard Mikey Lewis, who broke the fifth metatarsal in his right foot during practice Sept. 28.
“It could be as soon as eight weeks from the injury, as far out as maybe 12,” he said. “I think the sweet spot is maybe in between. If you do the math on that, we expect him to return in December.”
— Kentucky is projected to finish seventh in the SEC this season, but coach Mark Pope isn’t concerned.
“To be honest, we don’t spend a lot of time on polls,” he said. “We spend all our time on the work that we do, the wins that we earned.
“We are very, very focused on the only opinion mattering is the opinion in our locker room. … The polls will change. They change every week. I think our football team, which is just crushing it right now — it is so fun right now — just tell you how smart the polls are. They dropped them out of the Top 25 after they went on the road and beat an SEC team on the road. The guys came back and proved it because the polls didn’t matter to them either.”
Asked about the difference between playing for Kentucky, which Pope did from 1994-96, and now entering his third season as coach, he said there really isn’t one.
“One of the things that makes Kentucky so special, as an athlete you are dying to find a place where the pressure is,” he said. “That’s where you want to be. You want the pressure moment. … What you live for is being on the biggest stage under the brightest lights. You get that every single minute of every single day at Kentucky.”
— In his first season as Texas A&M’s coach, Bucky McMillan guided the Aggies to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament and has high hopes for the 2026-27 campaign.
Along with returning veterans Mackenzie Mgbako, Rylan Griffen, Zach Clemence and Jamie Vinson, the Aggies brought in seven transfers, including PJ Haggerty, who averaged nearly 24 points per game last season at Kansas State.
“The second weekend in March and then just keep adding on that,” Haggerty said when asked about the team’s ceiling this season.
Asked what drew him to College Station, Haggerty said, “During the season last year, I caught a couple of their games. Just seeing how fast they play — they had like nine games in the 100s. I like to score, so just being in a scoring system and being able to know that I have to back it up with defense.”
For McMillan, bringing in players with the size and strength to handle the grind of the rugged SEC was vital.
“I thought last year’s group was able to play how we wanted to play, but we didn’t have a lot of slashing and we were the smallest power four team in the country,” McMillan said. “We have more attackers. The later the season goes, it becomes a players’ game, and you have to have players who can create advantages, and we have that plus positional size.”
(–Field Level Media)
