Vicky Graff Photo
Maybe John Calipari has run out of patience with the NCAA when it comes to Croatian Zvonimir Ivisic.
The Kentucky coach said on his radio show Monday that UK had not “heard anything on Z” from the NCAA.
The 7-2 Ivisic has been at UK since mid-October awaiting word from the NCAA on his eligibility. Calipari said last week it had to do with a stipend Ivisic received while playing for a pro team in Europe even though some high school players are now making way more money than Ivisic did. Of course, college players are sometimes making huge money now with NIL.
“Hopefully we hear something,” Calipari said. “I just know that around the country, people are being very aggressive when it comes to different stuff with the NCAA. My hope is if this thing lingers too much longer, we become aggressive too.’”
Once a caller asked Calipari for details on why Ivisic was not eligible, Calipari sort of went off.
“I grabbed him today and I told him, ‘Look man, I feel so bad.’ I said to him, ‘I’m not worried about my team, this is you as a person that you’re having to go through this,’” Calipari said. “I don’t know what he’ll add to our team. He’s pretty good, but we’ve got good players.”
That’s a fair observation. With Aaron Bradshaw and Ugonna Onyenso healthy, Calipari already has two 7-footers. But Ivisic clearly wants to play and surprised many by returning to UK for the second semester rather than staying in Europe to play.
“It’s not fair to him. It took a long time to get him admitted — again, a 3.2 (GPA) student, smart kid, all the good stuff,” Calipari said. “And then it’s taking the NCAA even more time to look at the facts. There are European kids playing all around the country, but they’re playing and he’s not?”
Apparently Ivisic is handling the situation better than many would.
“When I said, ‘I feel bad for you, kid,’ he said ‘Coach, I’m good. I’m good,’” Calipari said . “‘I’ve gone this long, I can wait. I really want to help the team and I want to play, but I’m good. Don’t worry about me.’”
What an amazing attitude but if you watch Ivisic on the bench cheering for his teammates, I do believe what Calipari is saying about his attitude. But I also believe the chances of the NCAA suddenly clearing him seem to be slim and none.
5 Responses
If there is anything that can be done, why didn’t he do it in September? Just more Calipari snake oil.
The time to get aggressive on this issue was when Kanter sat for an entire season. The only thing the NCAA seems to understand is court rulings that knock them down from their pedestal of self righteousness. Those court cases take years, and if UK has made it an issue in 2013, the questions swirling around this kid would have been resolved by now, and given the NCAA legal track record, I seriously doubt that the NCAA can defend their arbitrary actions.
Calipari is full of crap. He tells the kid he feels bad for him for having to deal with this mess but then says we don’t need him since there is not much he can add to the team so why even bother the NCAA with it. This young man ought to go to an NAIA school where he could get real coaching and have a chance to play and learn the game and create some value for himself. Calipari’s answer was pure word salad that sounded good at the time but which meant nothing.
“I grabbed him today and I told him, ‘Look man, I feel so bad.’ I said to him, ‘I’m not worried about my team, this is you as a person that you’re having to go through this,’” Calipari said. “I don’t know what he’ll add to our team. He’s pretty good, but we’ve got good players.”
Bellarmine could use him and they play a very tough schedule. Now that they are DII he should rock a HBCU or play for Pikeville. They’ve had some players average over 30 points per game. A warm up for the combine.
It amazes me how these “armchair coaches” seem to think they know so much ……. so rude, so arrogant. They are what I call fair weather fans. Their support exists ONLY when the team is winning. There is no love of the game, the players, the school. It’s as though their self worth is directly tied to how much the Cats are winning. Sort of feel sorry for them at the same time that I hate the ugliness that spews from their mouths.