Mark Pope hoping to get Andrija Jelavić on campus 'as soon as possible'

Andrija Jelavić is the lone member of the 2025-26 Kentucky men’s basketball team yet to arrive on campus, but head coach Mark Pope expects that to change soon.

While talking with reporters during Monday’s press conference, Pope backed off from throwing out an exact timeline on when Jelavić, who is currently in his home country of Croatia, will make his way to Lexington. But he did say that the 6-foot-11 stretch forward has finished his classes overseas and has moved on to the next step in his process.

“The status right now is that we got transcripts, he just finished classes, which is awesome, so we have transcripts, and that part of this process is complete,” Pope said. “And now it’s going through the rest of it. I’m hoping he can be on campus here — I don’t know if it’s optimistic, in the next… You know, I’d love for him to be here tomorrow.”

The expectation is that Jelavić will arrive on campus later this summer, but even if he were able to arrive this week, Pope says he wouldn’t even be able to practice and work out with the rest of the team due to academic restrictions.

“He actually can’t work out with the team right now,” Pope said of Jelavić. “There are a number of reasons why he wouldn’t be able to work out with the team. One of them is being an international student, first time in the states, with our summer courses, to take the required number of in-class hours was really complicated. But we’d like to get him here as soon as possible. He’s doing great. He’s training back home and I expect him to come and have a great impact.”

Once Jelavić does join the rest of his teammates, there will likely be an important role for him in the rotation for the 2025-26 season. Coming to the United States as a 21-year-old freshman with multiple years of experience playing real professional minutes in the Adriatic League, he shouldn’t have much of a problem adapting to the college game.

“He’s a vet,” Pope said. “He’s been playing against grown men, so he should bring a lot. I think he’s a really good young man who’s been dreaming about this opportunity for a long time. I expect him to come here and have an immediate impact.”

Suiting up for Mega Superbet last season, Jelavić averaged 10.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 27.5 minutes per outing. He shot 48.5 percent from the field, 30.5 percent from deep, and 69.4 percent from the line across 29 games played.

Join KSR Plus! With a KSR Plus membership, you get access to bonus content and KSBoard, KSR’s message board, to chat with fellow Cats fans and get exclusive scoop.