John Calipari expresses confidence Zvonimir Ivisic will be cleared by NCAA

Kentucky fans hoping to see Zvonimir Ivisic wear a Wildcats uniform will have to wait. UK announced “Big Z” is cleared to practice, but can’t compete in any regular season or exhibition games until he receives clearance from the NCAA.

After Friday night’s exhibition against Georgetown College, John Calipari addressed the situation and expressed confidence Ivisic will be cleared to play.

Ivisic declared for both the 2022 and 2023 NBA Draft, but withdrew from both. Calipari said he personally checked to make sure Ivisic did so in time to play this year, and he confirmed that was the case. Now, it’s in the NCAA’s court, and Calipari remains optimistic.

“I’m gonna say it again: I feel comfortable knowing what I know,” Calipari said, via KSR’s Tyler Thompson. “He played on a development team. So, it wasn’t — the stuff you needed to know. I even went as far as to call the NBA to make sure his name was pulled on time after his pre-draft stuff, and it was, which is, that’s the depth that I went to just make sure before we do it, but again, it’s European so there may be some things that they’ll do different because he’s European, not a kid from the United States.”

As for whether there are injury concerns, Calipari said that’s not the case. Ultimately, he said the issue with Ivisic’s status for exhibitions came down to a communication mix-up.

“No, no,” Calipari said. “Again, what happened was, we asked a question, scrimmaging and the exhibition, and there was some miscommunication. We were told yes [he could play in exhibitions]. And then two nights ago, we’re saying, he can’t play in the exhibition until he’s cleared too. So that’s what the issue was.

“There was no, you know, nothing crazy. He’s doing good and if he were cleared — I’m not sure how many European players have been cleared yet, not many — but if he were cleared, my guess is he would probably be able to play at the next exhibition. But you gotta get cleared first.”

At 7-foot-2, Zvonimir Ivisic’s addition would be huge in multiple ways for Kentucky. The program’s other two seven-footers, Ugonna Oyenso and Aaron Bradshaw, are both down with injuries. If Ivisic can’t play to start the year, 6-foot-9 Tre Mitchell would be the tallest player available.

While Calipari said Kentucky can operate with a small lineup, there’s no question Ivisic would have an important role with the Wildcats. Nonetheless, UK will have a little more than a week to prepare for the season opener against New Mexico State on Nov. 6 — with or without its big man.