Zvonimir Ivisic is done with academic hurdles; Calipari confident he will be cleared

Kentucky Basketball‘s trip to SEC Media Day in Birmingham allowed John Calipari to speak about his newest Wildcat, Zvonimir Ivisic, and getting Ivisic into the University of Kentucky. Ivisic arrived in Lexington from Croatia on October 12, well into the fall semester on UK’s campus, and he still awaits final approval on his full NCAA eligibility before the season begins next month.

The academic requirements are well behind the new college freshman, Calipari explained to a room full of listeners in the Grand Bohemian Hotel Mountain Brook’s ballroom, and he feels confident in Ivisic’s standing as they await final clearance.

“The academic hurdles are done,” Calipari told the room. “He’s done well with that stuff. That was done well in advance. The normal procedure when he shows up on campus, they go through the other stuff, which is eligibility and all that.

“Knowing that he played on a development team and the club he was in and all that, I feel good. But they got to go through the process of doing it. So they’ll ask questions and all that.”

The process for Ivisic is the same as that for any other foreign student.

Ivisic “a piece to the puzzle”

John Calipari and “Big Z,” as he calls him, met face-to-face for the first time when Ivisic touched down in the United States last week. At SEC Media Days, Calipari joked about Ivisic’s boyish look, saying he doesn’t yet need to shave at age 20.

“He looks about 15,” Calipari said.

In commenting on Ivisic’s youth, Calipari cautioned the audience to keep expectations realistic regarding Ivisic’s immediate on-court impact, making note of the growing enthusiasm around Ivisic’s abilities as the admissions process dragged on.

“Because it took so long to get him here, every week that went by, he got better and better and bigger and a bigger impact, and oh my gosh, he’s King Kong and all of a sudden, each week that went by he got better and better,” Calipari said of the hype, before keeping it in check.

“He’s a piece to the puzzle for us. He’s 7-foot-2. He’s pretty skilled but he’s just going to start contact in tonight’s practice. So if you think that he’s ready to walk in and dominate a game, you’re not thinking right. He’s not.”

Currently, Ivisic is one of only two Kentucky players who are 6-foot-9 or taller until Aaron Bradshaw and Ugonna Onyenso return from their injuries.