On the eve of Mark Pope’s formal introduction as the next men’s basketball coach at the University of Kentucky, freshman forward Zvonimir Ivisic has entered the transfer portal. Ivisic — a 7-2 player from Croatia — put his name in the portal Saturday, one day before Pope was scheduled to be introduced as the Wildcats’ new coach during a ceremony at Rupp Arena. Playing in just 15 games as a freshman this past season following a delayed arrival on UK’s campus and then an NCAA investigation into his amateur status that left him watching from the sidelines, Ivisic averaged 5.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocked shots in 11.7 minutes per game, shooting 57.7% from the field and 37.5% from 3-point range. Ivisic — known to UK fans as “Big Z” even before he arrived in Lexington — had one of the most memorable Kentucky basketball debuts in years when he erupted for 13 points in just 16 minutes in his first college game, a 105-96 victory over Georgia on Jan. 20. The 20-year-old big man largely cooled off after that until going for 18 points, five rebounds and four blocks in a 117-95 victory over Alabama five weeks later. Those were his two highest-scoring games of the season as he struggled to find consistent playing time amid defensive shortcomings and physical ailments and illnesses that limited his practice time.
John Calipari, who left UK earlier in the week to take the head coaching job at Arkansas, often lamented the late start endured by Ivisic, who did not arrive on campus until the day before Big Blue Madness due to a drawn-out university admissions process. Even then, Ivisic was ineligible to play for the Wildcats — though he was permitted to practice — as the NCAA looked into his amateur status, a process that ultimately took months and prevented him from making his on-court debut for Kentucky until the season was halfway finished. Ivisic could follow Calipari to Arkansas for the 2024-25 season. He has entered the NBA draft twice in the past and pulled his name out both times. If he enters a third time, he will be forced to stay in the draft and cannot return to college basketball. The deadline for an NBA decision is April 27.
Ivisic could also still return to Kentucky, but that is not expected to happen after putting his name in the transfer portal the day before Pope was set to be introduced as the team’s next head coach. Pope, a former UK post player himself, returns to Lexington from BYU, where he spent the past five seasons as head coach, running a modern-style offense that utilized skilled big men away from the basket, seemingly an ideal situation for Ivisic. Instead, the new Kentucky coach will have one more roster spot to fill this offseason. Following Ivisic’s jump into the transfer portal, there are only four UK scholarship players from the 2023-24 season who have not made announcements on their future plans: Reed Sheppard, D.J. Wagner, Ugonna Onyenso and Jordan Burks.