UK Now has One of the Deepest Front Courts in the Country

Brandon Garrison (Vicky Graff Photo)

Exactly what is Kentucky getting with 6-11 Croatian power forward Andrija Jelavic, who committed to coach Mark Pope’s team on Saturday?

Jelavic is one of the top European prospects in his age group. He will be 21 next month and averaged 10.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.2 steals in 30 minutes per game while shooting 62 percent from 2-point range in the competitive Adriatic League over the last two seasons, when he had 53 3-pointers in 51 games.

Jack Pilgrim, Kentucky basketball beat writer for Kentucky Sports radio and On3.com, is on WLAP Sunday Morning Sports Talk with myself and Anthony White each week so I asked him Sunday about Jelavic.

“It creates one of the most talented, deepest front courts in college basketball. It’s a really really interesting add,” Pilgrim said. “He’s a 6-11 shooter. A very consistent knockdown threat, 30-plus percent from deep, and very skilled.

“A very European style of basketball player. Can bring the ball up the floor, can pass it, can shoot, can dribble. So there’s a lot to like there. Definitely fills a very obvious role there, kind of replacing what Andrew Carr brought to the table (last season).”

Pilgrim believes he could be an “upgrade” over Carr and called him a “big-time addition” for UK.

Pilgrim doesn’t anticipate the same type of eligibility issues with Jelavic that UK had two years ago with Zvonimir Ivisic.

“We won’t have a drama like that, like what we had two years ago. There were some self-inflicted issues that Big Z dealt with. He could have made life easier on himself,” Pilgrim said.

“I think it was a learning experience for both sides. But if you look across all of college basketball, there are a ton of instances of other kids coming in and playing right away with no hurdle, no adversities with getting cleared, getting eligible, and not having to deal with a free Big Z billboard. Nobody else had to deal with that the way he did, so hopefully it was a learning experience for everybody involved.

“I have not heard anything to suggest that there’s going to be any type of ‘we’ll see how long it takes’ (to get him eligible) or anything like that. The expectation is he’s going to come in and play right away, and I think there’s a lot of excitement about that.”

Pilgrim was also excited about the recent addition of Arizona State transfer Jayden Quaintance,  a one-time UK signee when John Calipari was coaching at UK. Even though he’s coming off ACL surgery, Kentucky got an official announcement from Brandon Garrison that he is staying at UK and also is bringing in 7-foot freshman center Malachi Moreno of Great Crossing.

“Just having as much depth as possible, so when the time does come for Jayden to make his grand appearance in the Kentucky uniform, you could really just see the benefits and not sink the ship too early if it does become a late November, early December kind of deal (for his return to playing),” Pilgrim said.

“You don’t have to rush him back the way they may have had before if Brandon Garrison had hit the (transfer) portal or whatever the situation was. So you’re in a really good spot where you can just kind of take your time with him until he’s fully ready and back to 100 percent.”