Jay Bilas: It's "inexplicable" that the NCAA has not cleared Zvonimir Ivisic

Kentucky fans aren’t the only ones wondering why the NCAA has yet to clear 7-foot-2 freshman Zvonimir Ivisic.

During Saturday’s ESPN broadcast of the Wildcats’ impressive 87-85 road win over the Florida Gators, Ivisic’s situation was brought up by play-by-play announcer Dan Shulman. Kentucky has been waiting since October for a ruling from the NCAA on Ivisic’s eligibility status, but we’re now into January and there’s still no clear idea of if/when Ivisic will ultimately get cleared.

Opposite of Shulman on the call was commentator Jay Bilas, who perfectly summed up the NCAA’s lack of a ruling.

“Inexplicable why he’s not been cleared yet,” Bilas said on the air.

Jay Bilas on Zvonimir Ivisic. "It is inexplicable why he's not been cleared yet." #BBN pic.twitter.com/tnSxvmtd9F

— Chris Beasmore (@CBeasmoreSports) January 6, 2024

The NCAA’s holdup for clearing Ivisic relates to his status as an amateur, which stems from his time back in Europe when he was playing professionally before coming over to the United States to play at UK.

Kentucky head coach John Calipari has been outspoken about his confusion with the NCAA’s decision to drag this case out. Ivisic’s teammates have been equally as loud, with veteran Tre Mitchell calling for the NCAA to “free my guy” on Friday. Ivisic was even rocking a “Free Big Z” t-shirt ahead of Saturday’s game.

The situation has dragged on for so long that a GoFundMe was started on Friday in order to raise money for a “#FreeBigZ” billboard that intends to go up right outside of the NCAA Eligibility Center in Indianapolis. The $3,600 goal (from over 230 individual donors) was met within four hours.

Everyone in college basketball believes that Ivisic should be cleared to play. Everyone except for the NCAA, apparently. And because of that, the waiting game continues.