Mark Pope believes Andrija Jelavić is 'capable' of playing center for Kentucky

With so much depth at his disposal, Mark Pope continues to tinker with lineups and rotations early into the 2025-26 season.

For the most part, Kentucky’s head coach has kept at least one of Brandon Garrison or Malachi Moreno in the game. Those are the Wildcats’ tallest and most viable options at center right now, at least until Jayden Quaintance returns from injury. Having Garrison or Moreno in the game allows Kentucky to have enough size on the glass and at the rim. Moreno already ranks among the top 150 players in the nation in both offensive (65th) and defensive (147th) rebounding percentage, per KenPom.

But Pope has plenty of additional talent and skill throughout his frontcourt. Against certain opponents, especially ones like Eastern Illinois on Friday that don’t possess an overwhelming amount of size, he can toy with different lineups to see what they bring to the table. We saw that in Kentucky’s 99-53 blowout win over the Panthers. Near the end of the first half (the final 1:08, to be exact), Pope rolled out a “small-ball” lineup of Jasper Johnson, Denzel Aberdeen, Trent Noah, Kam Williams, and Andrija Jelavić. It was the first time all season that neither Garrison nor Moreno was in the game.

With Williams at the 4 and Jelavić at the 5, Kentucky was able to open up space offensively. That played out during one of their possessions together against Eastern Illinois when Noah was able to attack the lane for a layup at the rim, a pair of EIU defenders sticking to Johnson and Williams (two capable shooters) out on the perimeter. That lineup didn’t appear again the rest of the game, but Pope was glad to have it on film moving forward.

“I do think there could be some space for (Jelavić) at the five. I think there could be some space for Kam at the 4 — in unique situations,” Pope said after the EIU win. “We went to some zone underneath out of bounds, it was nice to get that on film and something we have been working on. A game like today affords you just a chance to get something on film so you can see it. It was only a couple of possessions, but I think (Jelavić) is capable for sure.”

Mo Dioubate, a versatile, bullying 6-foot-7 forward, is another potential option for Pope as a small-ball center if that’s an experiment he wants to test out. The 6-foot-10 Jelavić is still a work in progress on both ends of the floor, but he has the size, skill, and touch to make an impact as a center. These lineups aren’t all that “small” in reality, considering the size in the backcourt, but with Jelavić as the center, they can help carve out more shooting space compared to ones with Garrison/Moreno, who can theoretically stretch the floor with their passing, but are a combined 0-1 from deep so far this season.

We’re only four games into the regular season. Rotations and lineups are not set in stone. A potential lottery pick in Quaintance has yet to take the floor. Pope is going to keep pushing different buttons as he figures out what hits and what misses. Don’t be surprised if Jelavić pops up in more lineups as Kentucky’s center at some point this season.

Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for press conferences, interviews, original shows, fan features, and exclusive content.