Zvonimir Ivisic Still Isn’t Eligible But He’s Back At Kentucky

Zvonimir Ivisic is back in Lexington with his friend Aaron "Santa Claus" Bradshaw and other UK teammates. (UK Athletics Photo)

I was skeptical about  Zvonimir Ivisic returning to Kentucky after the 7-2 Croatian returned home for Christmas.

He arrived at Kentucky in mid-October after a long ordeal to just be admitted to the University of Kentucky. However, the NCAA has still not declared him eligible even though UK has played 12 games and there’s been no indication when or if he will be eligible.

If that’s not enough, he’s been ill several times and lost weight after arriving in the United States. It seemed staying in Europe where he had played before to play and train for the NBA rather than leaving home again to come back to Kentucky would be a more logical decision for him.

Yet several reports/sources indicate that just as coach John Calipari predicted that Ivisic is back on campus and with the team.

“I had to send him home. He’s 242, down to (219),” Calipari said on his radio show Monday. “Come on, man. He wasn’t sleeping, eating. This stuff has gotten to him.”

Ivisic told Calipari he wanted to rejoin his teammates at Kentucky and continue his journey.

“How about this? He’s dying to get back. He wants to play for this university and these fans in the worst way,” Calipari said on his radio show. “He went back and told everybody, ‘I’ve never been coached this way. I’ve never been challenged this way. I love the environment, the fans.’ He just wants to play.”

Calipari really has not said why Ivisic has not been cleared to play by the NCAA but made it clear Monday it was because Ivisic made money playing professionally in Europe. Of course, even high school athletes today in the United States can make NIL money and college athletes are making six figures annually in many cases.

“If he were a pro, he’d be a pro. You can make it like he’s a pro. ‘What about this, what about that, what about this?’ What about the junior that’s making a million dollars and he’s in high school and will go play college basketball?” Calipari said.

“This is common sense stuff. This is why we get into the he-say, she-say and ‘We’re gonna let this kid play and not that kid.’ That’s why I said it in Louisville, the Supreme Court, every court case — common sense. Common sense.”