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Men's Basketball

Zvonimir Ivisic is Yet to Join Kentucky Basketball Team Due to Admission Issue

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YouTube/Asuch

On August 14th, the Kentucky men’s basketball team put out a video on X officially announcing the arrival of Croatian big man Zvonimir Ivisic.

This post was supposed to be the official indicator that Ivisic was finally in Lexington and with the team. Even John Calipari sent out a post about how excited he was to have Ivisic.

But, to just about everyone’s surprise, Ivisic isn’t even in the United States, and doubts are growing on if he’ll ever even be a Kentucky Wildcat. So, what’s going on?

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Lack of English Proficiency

One of the main speculations going around is that Ivisic is not very literate in English, and the UK Admissions Office requires people to be proficient in English in order to be admitted. As a foreigner, it could be expected that Ivisic’s English is not the best, but he in fact speaks English just fine.

Unfair Standards

To add on to the English-speaking issue, the University of Kentucky isn’t exactly known for being hard to get into. The acceptance rate for the university is 94.5%. The word around town is that Ivisic did not take a UK-approved English literacy test, although he did pass an English literacy test.

The University of Kentucky prides itself on being accepting and diverse, but in this case, the Admissions Office seems to firmly set in stone their expectations. UK has also been known to be flexible with students who aren’t the most fluent in English or just foreign students in general, but in Ivisic’s case, that flexibility is non-existent.

False Rumors?

University of Kentucky spokesman Jay Blanton put out a statement on September 5th regarding the speculation surrounding Ivisic. The statement reads as follows:

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“Unfortunately, misinformation is being perpetuated regarding the admission status of someone wishing to attend the University of Kentucky. The truth is members of our university – from our athletics department to our administration and all other units – are working together efficiently and in a manner that is consistent with the institution’s admissions standards. These are often complex issues, with multiple aspects to them, and they require many people, working to do the right thing for an individual wishing to attend the university. That is what we are doing. Spreading unfounded rumors helps no one.”

So, who really knows what’s going on? All we can truly say is that something is keeping Ivisic off of the team and that in itself is a major issue.


While the clock is ticking for Ivisic to get enrolled, other teams are ready to jump at the opportunity to add him to their team. Eli Capiluto and the president’s office can technically pass a waiver to allow for Ivisic’s enrollment.

Hopefully, Kentucky doesn’t have another Enes Kanter situation. Having Ivisic would be a massive addition to a roster that is depleted of big men. With the injury bug affecting Aaron Bradshaw and Ugonna Onyenso, Ivisic’s pending enrollment is all the more important for Calipari’s team.

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Men's Basketball

Kentucky Basketball Has “Pure Hoopers That Love the Game” According to Former Kentucky Guard

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Tyler Ulis coaching Robert Dillingham during GLOBL Jam.
UK Athletics | Chet White

In recent seasons, Kentucky has struggled to find players to make plays when they need it most. That hasn’t always been the case, some examples of players that had the ability to make a play to secure a win include: Tyler Ulis, Jamal Murray, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and John Wall among others.

Well speaking of some of the players I just mentioned, former Kentucky guard and current student assistant Tyler Ulis recently joined the Sources Say podcast and talked about how great this team can be this upcoming year.

Ulis calls this year’s team “pure hoopers”.

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“They’re basketball players. Hoopers. Pure hoopers, all of them. And they love the game,” Ulis said. “How me and Devin (Booker) were in the gym, me and Zay (Briscoe), me and Jamal (Murray), that’s what these guys are doing. They all want to get better — scared to fail, scared not to make it. That’s what shows they want to be great.”

As what defines a pure hooper, according to Ulis. “Anyone can make a play, anyone can get in the lane, anyone can knock a shot down,” Ulis said. “We have so many options and so much depth, it’s hard not to have fun with this team.”

With the new roster and additions to the coaching staff, the goal is for Kentucky to make a deep run into the NCAA Tournament this year. As for Ulis, he is excited to see what this year’s team can do.

“I can’t say it enough: I’m extremely excited to see how this goes. We’re deep with a lot of players, and they’re skilled.”

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Men's Basketball

Texas Women’s Basketball Takes A Shot at Kentucky Basketball

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entucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari reacts in the first half against the Providence Friars at Greensboro Coliseum.
© John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Earlier this week the Kentucky basketball team caught an unexpected shot. From who? The Texas women’s basketball team. On Tuesday, the Longhorns’ social media team tweeted a video of Drake, a professed Kentucky fan, coming to visit campus and the team.

However the caption is what caught people’s attention, “we don’t have to go to Drake’s house… he comes to ours,” Clearly trying to throw a shot at Kentucky for visiting Drake’s Toronto mansion back in July, during the team’s trip to Canada for GLOBL Jam.

It didn’t take long for the Big Blue Nation to respond, as just 12 minutes later the Tweet’s caption was edited to say “thanks for stopping by🤘”.

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That being said, let’s not act like Drake made a specific trip just to visit the Texas Longhorns, he was in Austin for a stop in his music tour. Not to mention that Drake has attended multiple Kentucky games and events.

Texas will soon be in the SEC, and maybe Drake will be there in Kentucky gear to set the record straight.

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BB Recruiting

Top Kentucky Target Tre Johnson Pushes Decision Date To Spring

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UK Athletics

One of the top players in the class of 2024, Tre Johnson recently made the move to Link Academy in search of high-level competition on a big stage, which is a reason he says is why he will wait until the Spring before making a decision.

The top five guard possesses all of the scoring tools, and is a player that Kentucky really wants. He still has a few visits to take, with Alabama and Arkansas visits coming soon, plus another visit to Kansas, and another visit to Baylor. Johnson previously visited Kentucky back in late January.

Johnson has a final list of Kentucky, Baylor, Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, Kansas, and pro options. The Wildcats are rumored to be a top-three option long with Baylor and Texas. This delay may give Kentucky a better chance. With that said, he is not in a big rush to decide, as he is more focused on getting acclimated to his new home at Link Academy, as well as improving as a player.

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Tre Johnson is one of the best pure scorers in all of high school basketball, and is certainly being prioritized by multiple top schools. Current intel suggests that Baylor and Kentucky are the top contenders, but with him pushing back his decision, there is more time to tell.

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