Tre Mitchell praises versatility of Zvonimir Ivisic, eager to play alongside the 7-2 freshman

7-foot-2 Croatian freshman Zvonimir Ivisic hasn’t even been in the United States for a full week yet. His first full-contact practice won’t happen until this evening. And yet, the oldest veteran on Kentucky’s roster can’t wait to play alongside one of the tallest players to ever suit up for the Wildcats.

“Big Z is extremely versatile,” Graduate student Tre Mitchell about Ivisic during Wednesday’s SEC Media Days. “Obviously, he has some size. He’s more athletic than I thought he was gonna be. Maybe it’s because he’s just huge. I’m not sure, but it seems like he’s super athletic… He’s extremely versatile and I think he’s gonna fit in immediately because that’s how we play. We’re all able to do whatever you need us to do. I think that me and him playing together is gonna shock a lot of people because I can’t see many people guarding me and him at the 4 and the 5.”

Mitchell, a 6-foot-9 power forward who transferred from West Virginia, also holds the title of “versatile”. He’s not a superior athlete or faster than opposing bigs, but he is a capable outside shooter and a stellar playmaker. When Mitchell has the ball in his hands, good things tend to happen. He averaged 4.5 assists per game and shot 44 percent from deep for Kentucky during the team’s undefeated four-game run over the summer in Toronto.

Now in his fifth season of college, Mitchell has seen and played more basketball than the majority of his peers. He knows what works and what doesn’t. When it comes to being paired with Ivisic in the frontcourt, Mitchell sees a path to success.

“You could put him on the block, me on the outside, or me on the block and him on the outside,” Mitchell added. “I don’t think there’s many teams that are gonna be able to adjust to that every single possession. At any point in the game he can come set a ballscreen for me and what is a team gonna do against that? There’s so much we can do with it.”

Remember, with fellow seven-footers Aaron Bradshaw and Ugonna Onyenso on the mend for the foreseeable future, Ivisic could be tossed into the fire early on. He and Mitchell will likely be head coach John Calipari’s only bigs for the first few weeks of the season. Mitchell is going to play loads of minutes to start. Calipari will need some assistance down low.

Kentucky won’t have much time to acclimate Ivisic though. Regular season games are less than three weeks away. That’s a quick turnaround for someone who has yet to play in a physical practice. However, he’s at least integrating nicely with the rest of his teammates.

“He is hilarious,” Mitchell said of Ivisic. “He is one of the funniest people — immediately one of the funniest people on the team, no doubt about it. Maybe it’s just because he’s new and his accent, but he’s funny. He’s a great kid. You can just tell that he’s wholesome, he’s humble in his experiences. First day on campus, he immediately fit right in with us.”

Calipari cautioned against creating lofty expectations for Ivisic, but even he admitted the big man is skilled and has a great feel for the game. Our first chance to see him on the actual basketball court will be Saturday for the annual Blue-White Game at Northern Kentucky University. Perhaps we’ll get a small taste of what the Mitchell-Ivisic combo could look like.