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Denzel Aberdeen was Jaland Lowe’s College Hoops “Wake‑Up Call” — Now They’re Best Friends at Kentucky

On3 imageby:Tyler Thompson07/01/25

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Jaland Lowe and Denzel Aberdeen at a Kentucky Basketball summer practice - Photo by Chet White, UK Athletics

Jaland Lowe will never forget the first time he met Denzel Aberdeen. Pitt was playing Florida in the NIT Season Tip-Off at the Barclays Center on November 22, 2023. Lowe was a freshman at Pitt; Aberdeen was a sophomore at Florida. Neither played much in that game, combining for just 14 minutes total in the 86-71 Florida victory, but it didn’t take long for Aberdeen to make an impression on Lowe, who was playing just his fifth college game ever.

“Yeah, so, I didn’t like ‘Zel at first, actually,” Lowe told reporters on Monday. “I hated ‘Zel because I played him my freshman year at Florida, and that really was my wake-up call to college basketball. I went out there and I tried to give him a little bump. He came in the game, and he did not move at all, and I went backwards. And then they beat us. I think they ended up beating us by like 30.”

Now, Lowe and Aberdeen are teammates at Kentucky. Aberdeen is coming off a national championship with Florida, a run in which he played a vital role as the Gators’ sixth man. Lowe started every game last season for a struggling Pitt squad, averaging 16.8 points, 5.5 assists, and 1.8 steals per game. He committed to Kentucky on April 5, with Aberdeen following suit 16 days later. It didn’t take much for Mark Pope to sell Aberdeen on sharing a backcourt with Lowe, his former foe.

“Coming in, before I even committed, I looked at the other guys who were coming in, potentially seeing if Otega [Oweh] was going to come back. I watched a lot of film on Jaland Lowe,” Aberdeen said last week. “Man, a guard that can score and pass, I’ve gotta play with him.”

“When I saw him commit, I’m like, oh, we got a gem for sure,” Lowe said of Aberdeen. “Because even though he won a national championship, sixth man, all of that, I don’t think guys really knew how good he is. And I feel like when you have that mutual respect for each other, it’s like, ‘Okay, now we’re working with something. We can bounce off each other.’ And I mean, that’s been like my best friend since we’ve been up here.”

The best friends are enjoying battling against one another in practice so far, iron sharpening iron.

“He’s very flashy, very quick guard, one of the best guards I’ve seen,” Aberdeen said of Lowe. “He has everything; he can be a pro. I learn from him, he learns from me. Just watching him in practice and stuff like that, lead, I’m trying to take little things he does and try to influence it into my game. Playing alongside him is going to be fun. It’s going to be great. It’s going to be scary for a lot of people, too.”

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Lowe and Aberdeen ready to lead Kentucky to No. 9

On Monday, Lowe said he believes Kentucky has the best backcourt in the country. He and Otega Oweh are almost certain to start, but from there, the possibilities are endless. Aberdeen is versatile enough to play alongside Lowe or back him while Jasper Johnson or Kam Williams play the two spot. Don’t forget Collin Chandler, who flashed filling in for Jaxson Robinson late last season. That’s a lot of options, but Lowe said Aberdeen will play a key role.

“Since that day [we played in 2023], I mean, I knew ‘Zel was a strong guard who could do everything. He’s just got to have the platform to allow that, and he’s got more than enough tools to do everything that’s required. He can shoot the ball at a very high level. He can make plays. His defense is amazing. He’s got all the tools that are needed.”

He also has national championship experience. Lowe said that Aberdeen doesn’t talk about winning the title with Florida often, but his teammates are determined to follow in his footsteps to number nine.

“We’re just focused on having fun and getting ready to win a championship, because we came up short last year, so we don’t want to do that no more. Plus ‘Zel, he’s got a ‘chip, but we already got a thing. It was always like, all right, man, you’ve got to be the first player in history to win it with two teams, two different teams.

That’s what Aberdeen likes to focus on.

“Of course, that’s a huge moment for him, but he doesn’t really seem to bring up that moment,” Lowe said. “He’s always talking about how he wants to do it over here now. And that’s the goal; that’s the objective.”

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