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All academic hurdles for 7-2 Croatian Zvonimir Ivisic are done according to Kentucky coach John Calipari.
“He’s done well with that stuff. That was done well in advance,” Calipari said Wednesday at SEC Media Days in Birmingham. “The normal procedure, when he shows up on campus, they go through the other stuff, which is eligibility and all that. But knowing that he played on a development team, the club he was in, all that, I feel good.”
That “stuff” took until this month to get cleared up because Ivisic only arrived on campus last week and now the NCAA has to declare him eligible now that he has finally been able to enroll at UK.
“I think he’ll be in good shape, but he has to go through the (NCAA eligibility) process like every other foreign student would do,” the UK coach said.
Calipari made sure to explain that Ivisic is not an experienced veteran who can be a team savior.
“He does not shave. Like, he looks about 15 versus … He’s a young player, 19, just turned 20 three or four weeks ago,” Calipari said.
Of course, 20 is older than every other UK freshman and probably older than some college sophomores. But it is logical that he will be behind other UK players because of his late arrival on campus and unknown level of competition he’s been playing against.
“Because it took so long to get him here, every week that went by, he got better and better and bigger, bigger impact. Oh, my gosh, he’s King Kong. All of a sudden each week that went by, he got better and better,” Calipari said about the fan perception of Ivisic.
“He’s a piece to the puzzle for us. He’s 7-2, pretty skilled. He’s just going to start contact in tonight’s practice. So if you think he’s ready to walk in, dominate a game, you’re not thinking right. He’s not.
“But a great kid. Smart. All that we’ve done to this point, some of the defensive stuff, he already has a good feel.”
