Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope spoke to the media Monday afternoon and gave an update on international commit Andrija Jelavic. The Croatian big man is the only player on the Wildcats’ 2025-26 roster who is not yet in Lexington.
Pope spoke with reporters and gave an update on when he expects Jelavic to arrive in Kentucky. Pope didn’t want to give an exact timeline on when he hopes to have the 6-foot-11 big man on campus, but he sounded hopeful. Jelavic has completed his classes and is awaiting
the next step in his process.
“The status is we have the transcripts, and he has completed his classes overseas,” Pope said. “Now it’s just going through the rest of the steps. I’m hoping he can be on campus. I’m not sure if it's optimistic, but I would love for him to be here tomorrow.”
Even if Jelavic did arrive tomorrow, he would not be able to practice directly with the team.
“He actually cannot work out with the team right now for a multitude of reasons,” Pope said. “There are a number of reasons he cannot work out with the team. One of them is related to his status as an international student, his first time in the country, and the summer courses.
“He would need to take a required number of summer hours, and it would be somewhat complicated. We want to get him here as soon as possible.”
When Jelavic does arrive in Lexington, he could play a significant role for this Wildcats team. The stretch forward has great ability to play all over the floor. Coming to Lexington as a freshman with a “veteran” play style will be a massive addition to this Kentucky team. Jelavic should have no problem adapting his game.
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