Thoughts of the Day: September 30, 2026
A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning:
To paraphrase Steve Spurrier, God smiled on the Gators Tuesday. First, Alachua County judge George Wright issued a temporary restraining order against the NCAA that will allow Denzel Aberdeen a fifth year of eligibility. While that was going on, Ian Condon (6-7, 245, Washington, DC Sidwell Friends School), a 4-star 2027 forward considered the No. 1 player in the talent-rich Washington metro area, committed to Todd Golden and the Gators.
The good day for Todd Golden began when Judge Wright ruled Aberdeen meets the requirements for a fifth season of college basketball. Denied a waiver for a fifth year by the NCAA back on May 29, Aberdeen filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on September 11. The NCAA enacted its 5-for-5 legislation back in June and that formed the foundation of Aberdeen’s lawsuit. He was being denied a fifth year because he graduated high school in 2022, never took a redshirt, and played all of 41 minutes as a UF freshman in the 2022-23 season. Aberdeen played briefly in 11 games, his only extensive action nine minutes against UCF in the NIT.
A key reserve on Florida’s 2025 national championship team, Aberdeen spent last season in exile at Kentucky where he averaged 13.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game while shooting 43.3 percent overall from the field and 36.3 percent from the 3-point line. Immediately after Kentucky was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament, Aberdeen entered the transfer portal for a return to Florida while also petitioning the NCAA for a fifth year of eligibility.
It seemed strange that Aberdeen would be denied a waiver since he played so little as a freshman and returned to Florida to finish the few hours needed for his degree. Even stranger, the NCAA cleared Washington transfer Franck Kepnang to play a SEVENTH season at Kentucky even before the 5-for-5 legislation was passed unanimously by the NCAA Division I Council. Kepnang spent two seasons at Oregon State then played the last four years at Washington. Injuries factored in the Kepnang decision, but he still played in 113 college basketball games.
Even without Aberdeen the Gators would enter the 2026-27 season that begins officially November 2 in Tampa against Miami as the nation’s No. 1 team. Adding him to the roster and starting lineup only strengthens Florida’s position as the preseason No. 1.
Cameron Salerno of CBS Sports wrote, “Duke and Illinois were among the teams in the sport with the highest retention, but Florida’s elite frontcourt play, paired with two high-level guards in Aberdeen and Boogie Fland will make the Gators the team to beat this season. Getting Aberdeen back is just the cherry on top.”
Wrote CJ Moore of The Athletic: “With Aberdeen now eligible, Florida has five players – Aberdeen, Haugh, Alex Condon, Rueben Chinyelu and Urban Klavzar – who were part of the rotation on the 2025 national champs. The Gators also return Boogie Fland, who started every game at point guard last season. An argument could be made for Illinois, Duke or Arizona as preseason No. 1, but the Gators are the likely choice, especially now with Aberdeen.”
Condon, no relation to Alex Condon, is a self-described “three-level scorer” who can knock down threes, hit the midrange shots and put the ball in the basket in the paint. Condon played on the Nike EYBL circuit for Baltimore-based Team Melo during the summer, averaging 18.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
Prior to selecting the Gators, Condon considered offers from Syracuse, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Northwestern and Georgia Tech.
THEY SAID IT: BUSTER FAULKNER AND BRAD WHITE
Faulkner: “I think they [offensive line] get better as the game goes. You know, you look at run game and early in the game, it's usually harder to run than it is later in the game. But if you're getting four yards, five yards in the first quarter, you kind of project out, those can be six, seven, eight-yard gains later as the game goes. So, yeah, you can see their confidence as the game went on. And I think that's a tribute to our strength staff, Rusty [Whitt] and the guys. I thought our guys were fast, fresh, strong, and that's all we take a great deal of pride in as an organization around here."
More on the O-line: “Those two sacks, I think, were both on sprint-out type plays, so it really wasn't on the offensive line. One thing that I'm a firm believer in offensive linemen get criticized for giving up a lot of sacks. I don't believe that it's just always the offensive line. I think play-calls can help that out, using your tight ends in the chip game, sprinting out, quarterback getting the ball out, running backs in protection. When we talk about protecting a quarterback, we're not just talking to the offensive line. We're talking to the offensive line, the tight ends, the running backs. we're talking to the quarterback too. Like, you got to get the ball out and understand where you're vulnerable and all those different things that come with it. So again, that's like a unit thing. It's not just the O-line. If you're giving up a bunch of sacks, it's not just the offensive line."
White: “I think it’s [Missouri] definitely one of the best O-lines in this conference and the best one we've seen thus far this year. So big challenge up front and then you mix the fact that it's a heavy outside zone scheme. They do a great job working together, and that's a big piece of being successful in in that scheme run-wise. Everybody's got to be in lockstep, and they target together, they understand their track together, and the running back feeds off that. He does a great job being able to lead it. He keeps it front side more than a lot of people in outside zone that looked to wind it back. So that post is a little bit of a different challenge, where a lot of times you get your backers to stack and fall back. Now you got to be mindful, ‘Hey, this might stay frontside.’ Something we've got to we got to be really disciplined in our run fits. We got to be really good up front. You talk about the pass rush aspect of it, but we got to be really good against the run. It’s sort of the best running football team we've seen up to this point, and so we're going to have to do a good job eliminating that. And then, obviously, they'll push the ball downfield. Caden Lee does a nice job in the middle of the field between the hashes and so they've got the ability to get explosive and get behind you. Yeah, big challenge, especially on the road.”
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: The Protect College Sports Act is halfway home now, needing only to get through the House of Representatives to become law of the land. So many of the provisions in this legislation will come in handy at a time when soaring costs and certifiably nuts boosters are shaking college sports at their very foundations, but there is also a dark side to all this, one that nobody seems willing to talk about.
Start with the obvious. Allegedly, once this legislation is signed into law, the NCAA, in its infinite wisdom, will have the power to enforce its own rules. Allegedly is a good word to use here because it assumes that once it has Congressional backing the NCAA will be able to effectively put an end to all the chaos that is threatening to unhinge college athletes as we know them.
The chaos is real. The need to regain control of college sports is pressing and long overdue. But, do we really believe that order will be restored? For instance, do we really believe that this legislation will put an end to the hundreds of lawsuits the NCAA is fighting over a couple of provisions in its 5-for-5 rules?
Even back when we thought the NCAA was in control there were lawsuits. Lots of them. The NCAA lost nearly every one of them, too, just as it is losing nearly every one of those lawsuits it is fighting so diligently in court these days. The NCAA’s record in court cases tells us three things: (1) Even with all those PhD types to rely on for wisdom the NCAA can’t seem to write rules that make enough sense to withstand challenges in court; (2) the NCAA’s own record of inconsistent and selective enforcement of its rules invites challenges; and (3) all these losses in court tell us the NCAA has a lousy track record when it comes to hiring lawyers because for all the billions spent in billable hours over the years, the NCAA gets its butt kicked regularly.
The 5-for-5 law is the perfect example. The four years of eligibility rules have been in place for decades but the new rules set a timeline of five years from high school graduation to complete eligibility. An athlete can play all five years if uninjured, but there is a catch. Athletes who graduated high school in 2022 aren’t included. Last year’s fourth-year seniors who graduated high school in 2022 don’t get a fifth year. Those who graduated in 2023 and are in their fourth year this year, have another year of eligibility at their disposal. That reeks of unfairness which is why Darren Heitner and other lawyers have been taking on the NCAA in courtrooms across the country and winning temporary restraining orders. Denzel Aberdeen beat the NCAA in court yesterday. If the NCAA had a functioning brain – a question certainly worth asking – it would have simply grandfathered in all the 2022 high school grads. It would have saved multiple millions in legal fees and court costs.
Making matters worse for the NCAA is its inconsistent waiver grants. It denied Aberdeen a fifth year when he applied for a waiver back in the spring even though he played only 41 minutes as a freshman in the 2022-2023 season. Prior to 5-for-5, play one game in basketball and it counts as a full year. Prior to 5-for-5, a football player could play in four full games and still get a redshirt for the season. Plus you have waivers granted for injuries. Florida wide receiver Kahliel Jackson, who is back in action after missing the three previous seasons due to injuries, is actually in his seventh season of college football. He began at UF in 2020 and earned his degree in 2023.
Now, there are provisions in the Protect College Sports Act that are necessary and should have been enacted years ago but the bill isn’t without its flaws, one of which is an attempt to empower the NCAA. Does anyone in his right mind believe the NCAA is salvageable? Why hasn’t some brave soul in Washington demanded either a complete overhaul of the NCAA before voting yes on this legislation? Better yet, why hasn’t some brave soul in Washington given us a timeline for phasing out the NCAA while phasing in a new organization complete with a commissioner for each sport and a willingness to enforce rules while demanding accountability among its members?
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