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Zvonimir Ivisic trolls USC, Eric Musselman over crowd size

Wade-Peeryby:Wade Peery•10/16/24
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Photo by Jordan Prather | USA TODAY Sports

College basketball saw several high-profile coaches move around in the carousel this offseason. USC Trojans head coach Andy Enfield headed off to SMU, which opened up the Trojans head spot for former Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman. And former Kentucky head coach John Calipari decided to pack his bags and move to Fayetteville to join the Hogs and several of his old players at Kentucky joined him at Arkansas, including big man Zvonimir Ivisic.

On Tuesday evening, looking at the pregame crowd for the USC-UTSA exhibition match, “Big Z” was not impressed. He trolled the Trojans and Eric Musselman over the crowd size.

“Packed house tonight,” he tweeted in sarcastic fashion. The stadium looked close to empty in the picture that Jon Rothstein tweeted.

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More on Zvonimir Ivisic and his college career

The 7-foot-2 Croatian product only spent one season with the Wildcats, tallying 15 appearances. He averaged 5.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 57.7% from the field and 37.5% from beyond the arc.

Ivisic only played in a fraction of Kentucky’s games due to the NCAA not clearing him to play until Jan. 20. In his first game, “Big Z” erupted for 13 points in only 16 minutes, draining three 3-pointers in the process.

Ivisic also boasted a standout performance in Kentucky’s blowout 117-95 win over Alabama, recording a career-high 18 points on 7-11 shooting. It’s no surprise to see Ivisic tag along with Calipari to Arkansas.

Less than 24 hours after Arkansas officially named Calipari the program’s next head coach, Ivisic posted a photo of the 65-year-old in Arkansas attire to his Instagram. Calipari was key in helping Ivisic receive eligibility to play.

“It’s not fair,” Calipari said about the NCAA’s hesitancy to grant Ivisic eligibility. “For him to go through what he did to get into school for two months, what he’s doing academically, how he is as a teammate. Every day he walks in, he says, ‘Hey, Coach Cal!’ Yesterday, or two days ago, I said to him, you know, I just want you to know I feel bad because I don’t like how you were treated from the beginning to now. And he said, ‘Coach, I’m good. I’m good. I appreciate you saying it, but I’m good.’ He’s just a great kid and he deserves it.

“Look, if it were your son, how would you feel right now? He just turned 20. He was a 19-year-old, 20, playing amateur basketball over there. They can make it however they want to make it. ‘But, well, what about this? What about that?’ I get it. I get it. But, you know, he’s a great kid that deserves it.”

Now, Zvonimir Ivisic will have a chance to shine for a full season. Further, he’ll be surrounded by a similar environment.

On3’s Grant Grubbs also contributed to this article.