Kentucky moves up in CBS Sports Top 25 following Zvonimir Ivisic addition

The addition of Croatian seven-footer Zvonimir Ivisic completes an impressive roster rebuild by John Calipari, one that many worried may not come a few months ago. Now, the Cats have depth and talent at every position, and an insurance policy should Aaron Bradshaw and/or Ugonna Onyenso miss more time than expected following foot surgeries. Add in Kentucky’s 4-0 run in the GLOBL Jam and the Cats are trending up, a rise that is reflected in some preseason rankings.

Following Ivisic’s commitment early Tuesday morning, CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish bumped the Cats up a spot in his Preseason Top 25 And 1. Kentucky is now No. 16, just behind fellow SEC teams Tennessee (No. 14) and Texas A&M (No. 15). In the previous update in June, Parrish moved the Cats into the Top 25 after Tre Mitchell‘s transfer from West Virginia.

“Ivisic just had a string of impressive performances at the FIBA U20 European Championship last month, averaging 11.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 blocks while shooting 34% from 3-point range,” Parrish wrote. “Exactly how the soon-to-be-20-year-old will translate to the high-major level remains unclear. But the worst-case scenario has Ivisic adding depth to a roster that needs it, especially considering Kentucky bigs Aaron Bradshaw and Ugonna Onyenso are both currently injured.”

Duke star wants some of that Ivisic/Kentucky smoke

Arkansas (No. 11) and Mississippi State (No. 25) are also in Parrish’s Top 25, which is topped by Kansas (No. 1), Purdue (No. 2), and Duke (No. 3). Speaking of Duke, Blue Devils star Kyle Filipowski wants a matchup with Kentucky now that Ivisic is on the roster, leaving this comment on Tipton Edits’ Instagram post about his commitment.

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Not all college basketball writers are giving John Calipari kudos for his work this summer. In a video filmed prior to Ivisic’s commitment, Jeff Goodman gave Kentucky a D- grade this offseason, questioned DJ Wagner’s choice to go to Kentucky over Louisville, and said the Cats have a 0% chance of winning the national championship. Goodman’s gonna Goodman, so if you want to play into his hands, you can take out your anger on him on social media. Or, come talk about it on KSBoard, which you can access for only $1 right now.

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