Mark Pope believes Andrija Jelavić can be 'really special' at Kentucky: "He wants to hoop all the time."

As an overseas prospect, Andrija Jelavić is a bit more of an “unknown” compared to his future American teammates. Turning 21 later this month, he’s been playing professional basketball for multiple years now, but there are always going to be questions about how his skill set will translate to the States until we finally see it with our own eyes.

But Jelavić’s soon-to-be college head coach, Mark Pope, wants us to know right now there is nothing to worry about. The 6-foot-11 stretch forward with a 7-foot-2 wingspan is already receiving high praise before even making his way to Lexington.

“My first FaceTime conversation with him was actually beautiful,” Pope said during his offseason press conference on Tuesday. “From the first few minutes talking, I was like, ‘Wow, this kid is really special.’ He loves the game of basketball. He loves to hoop. He wants to hoop all the time. He’s in an environment where he’s doing two practices a day, every day for his entire life. And so that’s kind of the background he’s come from.

“He’s with a really good organization that we know, the people surrounding that organization really well. And he knows Kentucky. We were exchanging calls, the more and more this became real, the more emotional he got. Like all of us, the opportunity to be associated with Kentucky basketball is a little bit beyond his wildest dreams. And so he was pretty emotional about the whole process.”

Jelavić was a surprise offseason addition for Kentucky, but one who could play a massive role in 2025-26. The Croatian native has averaged 10.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and one steal in 27.3 minutes per outing this season for Mega Superbet. He’s shooting 49.1 percent from the field, 30.9 percent from deep, and 69.1 percent from the free throw line. Jelavić is currently in the midst of a playoff run and will look to avoid elimination this Friday against Budućnost VOLI.

Once his season wraps up, Jelavić will begin the process of moving to the Bluegrass State. If his team makes it to the championship round (a five-game series), he could continue playing basketball until the middle of June. College players typically arrive on campus for summer workouts in early to mid-June.

But before we even get to that point, Pope says UK is still waiting on the NCAA to approve all of the eligibility paperwork that comes with signing an international recruit.

“He’s been incredibly cooperative,” Pope said of Jelavić. “The people at Mega and the people at his university have been incredibly cooperative. The NCAA is working hard and pushing it through as quickly as we can.”

The Big Blue Nation is quite familiar with dealing with eligibility issues surrounding a Croatian-born player. But Pope’s words don’t sound like someone anticipating another Zvonimir Ivisic situation.

“I have every reason to believe that he’s going to be just as successful here as all of our guys are,” he added. “I think he’s got a chance to be really special.”

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