Urban Klavzar cleared by NCAA, will make Florida debut at FSU

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Last year, Florida guard Zyon Pullin was forced to miss the first three games due to NCAA rules before making his UF debut at Florida State. The same scenario has played out this season with Urban Klavzar, who was cleared by the NCAA on Thursday.

Klavzar, a 2024 signee from Slovenia, played professionally in Spain, which put his eligibility in jeopardy. He missed the first three games of the season while UF compliance worked through his situation with the NCAA and the SEC. Now Klavzar will suit up against the Seminoles.

“I’m incredibly happy for him,” Florida coach Todd Golden said. “It’s been a really trying time for him as he’s moved over from Slovenia on his own, trying to figure out this process. But he will be in uniform tomorrow and he will play tomorrow night against Florida State.”

Klavzar, 20, was ruled a sophomore by the NCAA and has three years of eligibility. At the 2024 U20 EuroBasket, he averaged 16.1 points per game and shot .383 from 3-point range. He earned All-Tournament honors and 23 points in the gold medal game with Slovenia.

Klavar will give the Gators another weapon from downtown and should help them improve from 3-point range after shooting 26 percent to start the season.

“He’s just a good player, man,” Golden said. “Just another really talented, skilled guard. A guy that should help us against pressure, a guy that can really shoot the ball, a guy with moxie, toughness. Little undersized, but really competes on both ends. And a guy that’s played high level basketball. So the great thing about Urby is he’s not going to be your normal freshman. He’s not a guy that’s coming out of the high school ranks, you know, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed going into Florida State. He’s played in big-time environments. He’s played at international basketball at the highest level, so I think he will be ready to help us right away.

“He’ll play tomorrow night, for sure. It’s going to take some time for him to kind of become acclimated and integrate him in with the other guys. Obviously, we’ve played three games, and we have a good flow going. But he’s a high-level player and he’s a guy that we have counted on being a part of this rotation since the summertime since he came to Florida. So, we’ll have to work those kinks out. It will be a little similar to when Zyon came back last year after three games and trying to figure out the best way to get him into the lineup. But again, it will be really nice to have him out there tomorrow night.”

“Put yourself in his shoes, coming over from Slovenia, leaving family and friends. He was in Spain playing, then you come over here and they tell you you can’t play. You’re coming over here to play. He’s a great student, also, by the way. He’s doing phenomenal in the classroom. He made the decision to play basketball and he’s been unable to do that. It’s been really challenging for him, but I think it speaks to his maturity and the kind of person he is, the way he’s been able to navigate, keep a good head on his shoulders and be willing to help any way he can in practice. The good news for him is he gets to go tonight.”

The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Klavzar competed extensively with the Slovenian national program, appearing in six FIBA championships. He averaged 7.3 points over four games with the Slovenian senior national team during the 2023 FIBA World Cup European Qualifiers.

Klavzar also made 33 appearances with CD Estela Cantabria in Spain’s second division, Primera FEB, averaged 8.9 points and 1.3 assists. He was one of several international college basketball players ruled ineligible at the start of the season due to this NCAA rule:

“You are not eligible for participation in a sport if you have ever: (1) Taken pay, or the promise of pay, for competing in that sport. [Bylaw 12.1.2] (2) Agreed (orally or in writing) to compete in professional athletics in that sport.”

Golden credited Florida’s compliance office for figuring out how to get Klavzar cleared.

“It was a process to say the least,” he said. “I give a lot of credit to our compliance staff here at Florida as well as the SEC and the NCAA for doing what was right and clearing this guy and allowing him to compete. He was unique in terms of cases that they’ve evaluated so far, but I think anybody that’s kind of studied this year’s class of freshmen from Europe realize that there’s a lot of guys that have this unique circumstance. So, I’m not necessarily surprised it took a little longer, but I am very pleased with Jamie McCloskey, Kim Green, our compliance staff here at UF for the work they did. They were diligently working on it making sure that they gave the NCAA and the SEC every piece of fact that they needed to come to this conclusion. Obviously, we would have loved to have him three games ago, but we’re satisfied to get him now and to get him eligible.

“I was again, just really, really happy for him. Put yourself in his shoes, coming over from Slovenia, leaving family and friends. He was in Spain playing, then you come over here and they tell you you can’t play. You’re coming over here to play. He’s a great student, also, by the way. He’s doing phenomenal in the classroom. He made the decision to play basketball and he’s been unable to do that. It’s been really challenging for him, but I think it speaks to his maturity and the kind of person he is, the way he’s been able to navigate, keep a good head on his shoulders and be willing to help any way he can in practice. The good news for him is he gets to go tomorrow night.”