Mark Pope and Kentucky are adding another piece to its front court. Saturday Croatian forward Andrija Jelavic committed to Kentucky.
Jelavic, who will turn 21 years old next month, will come to Kentucky as a freshman.
The 6-foot-11 forward has spent each of the past two seasons playing professionally for Mega Superbet in the Adriatic League each of the past two seasons.
Throughout those two seasons, he played in 53 games and averaged 10.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 62.0 percent on tw0-point field goals.
He hit 52 threes over the course of the 53 games.
This past season he averaged 10.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.0 steal per game while shooting 60.2 percent from two, 32.3 (21-for-65) percent from three and 67.7 percent (44-for-65) at the free throw line.
He declared for the 2024 NBA Draft but withdrew before the deadline withdraw to return to Serbia instead.
Per ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, Jelavic is “one of the most highly regarded European prospects taking the NCAA route.”
The ‘stretch-four’ possesses a 7-foot-2 wingspan.
Have been a fan of 6’11 Andrija Jelavic since his impressive U18 performance in 2022
The 20 year old is an athletic stretch 4 who moves like a wing
The 6’11 Mega product is averaging 11.4 PPG, 7.3 RPG and 1.6 APG while also averaging 1.1 BPG
He’s shot over 48% FG in 2 years… pic.twitter.com/pkpg5eNb5E
— Arman Jovic (@PDTScouting) February 19, 2025
Jelavic will be the second player from Croatia to play for Kentucky in program history, joining center Zvonimir Ivisic, who played for the Cats during the 2023-24 season before transferring to Arkansas to join John Calipari. Ivisic entered the transfer portal to join his twin brother, Tomislav Ivisic Ilinois, earlier this month.
He will be the sixth European-bred player in program history, joining Ivisic, Kerr Kriisa (Estonia), Amari Williams (England), Morakinyo Williams (England) and Lukasz Obrzut (Poland).
Jelavic becomes the third member of UK’s incoming freshman class, joining five-star guard Jasper Johnson and five-star forward Malachi Moreno.
Four-star point guard Acaden Lewis signed with the Wildcats in November but decommitted Thursday, which will keep the Wildcats at three incoming freshmen, including Jelavic.
He is the fifth new addition added by the Wildcats since the end of its 2024-25 season, joining Tulane transfer guard/forward Kam Williams, Pittsburgh transfer point guard Jaland Lowe, Alabama transfer forward Mouhamed Dioubate, and Arizona State transfer center Jayden Quaintance.
He will join a Kentucky frontcourt that, along with Dioubate, Quaintance, and Moreno, also returns Brandon Garrison, who served as UK’s backup center behind Williams last season.
With Jelavic on board as the Cats’ 12th scholarship player, Kentucky likely will add just one more player in the backcourt to complete its 2025-26 roster puzzle, assuming it does not have any surprise departures before the transfer portal closes on April 22.