John Calipari on when Zvonimir Ivisic will make his Kentucky debut

We’re probably going to have to wait another week to see Zvonimir Ivisic play in a Kentucky jersey. Today at Media Day, John Calipari said he believes Big Z needs another week of conditioning to be ready for game action, meaning he’d miss Friday night’s exhibition vs. Georgetown and potentially play vs. Kentucky State on Thursday, Nov. 2.

“Probably next week,” Calipari said of when Big Z will finally take the court. “He’s not going [full contact in practice] today. He’s going to do individual work but he’s not going to go body-to-body with his teammates. So, if you all know, I’m normally the guy that says, if you’re not going to practice [the day] before, you’re not going to play the game.”

Calipari said that if Ivisic is able to go full contact tomorrow, “we’ll see” about the exhibition vs. Georgetown on Friday night, but he doesn’t want to rush the freshman into action, especially in the preseason.

“My guess is he’s a little frustrated with me,” Cal joked. “But there seem to be a lot of people frustrated with me, so that’s okay. Like I always do, I’m gonna look after the kids and try to do what I think is best for them and us.”

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“I think we threw [Ivisic] in a little bit too fast”

After a long admissions process, Ivisic finally arrived in Lexington on Oct. 12 and started full contact in practice on Oct. 18. He sat out Kentucky’s scrimmage at Madness, after which Calipari told fans to get ready for his debut at the Blue-White Game. Calipari later decided against playing Big Z in the intrasquad scrimmage, a decision he explained more today.

“We do the ramp-up. I was uncomfortable — and I’m just telling you, when I saw him the first time, I think it was his excitement to be playing. Alright, this is what I’m seeing. But he’s gonna be fine. I’m just a little leery.”

What is Kentucky’s ramp-up process?

“Well, it starts with what his issues are,” Calipari said. “You deal with those and then you deal with the conditioning. And then you deal with two-on-two, three-on-three, and then, ‘Alright, you’re ready to go?’ And I think we threw him in a little bit too fast, with what we did. And it was good. I mean anybody that came in and watched was like, ‘Yeah, he’s good.’ He’s a good basketball player. He’s not like King Kong. He’s not. He’s another piece for us.”

It may take longer than anticipated to see Big Z play in a game, but Calipari said the freshman is already making a great impression on his teammates.

“I’m proud of him. We love him. Gonna be so good for this team. He’s a basketball player. Everybody that’s come in contact with him loves.”

“I love what this kid has done. I mean, for him to go through what he did when he could have just said, ‘I’m going to another school.’ He didn’t. Said, ‘I want to be there.'”

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