Andrija Jelavic shares his goal for the season upon arrival in Lexington

Originally posted on Kentucky Wildcats on SI
By Andrew Stefaniak | Last updated Aug 19, 2025 9:39 AM ET

Andrija Jelavic

Kentucky basketball received huge news this weekend as the Wildcats had another player make his arrival on campus. That player is Croatian forward Andrija Jelavic, who, after a long wait, is finally in Lexington.

Big Blue Nation was starting to get concerned when Jelavic wasn't on campus, but he arrived this weekend, which will give him plenty of time to get prepared for the start of the 2025-26 season.

After the situation with Zvonimir Ivisic, Kentucky fans are a little timid waiting on the arrival of foreign players, so Big Blue Nation is ecstatic to see what Jelavic will bring to the table for this team.

Kentucky basketball posted a video of Jelavic sharing a message to Big Blue Nation upon his arrival in Lexington.

Andrija Jelavic's message to Big Blue Nation

"Hello, BBN. I'm Andrija Jelavic. I'm here on campus. I'm excited to get to work, meet you all, and I'm excited to get number nine."

Clare Grant/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Jelavic is the perfect player to come in and play the power forward position for the Kentucky Wildcats, as he is a highly skilled player despite being 6'11. It is very common to see European forwards be very skilled when it comes to ball handling and shooting. Luckily for the Wildcats, this is the case for Jelavic, which is why he should be a star for Kentucky.

Jelavic will be competing with Mo Dioubate to see who will start for the Kentucky Wildcats at the power forward position, and this could go either way. Dioubate is a great defender and rebounder, but Jelavic is better in just about every aspect of the game aside from these two.

Playing against the physicality of Dioubate every day in practice is going to be very good for Jelavic because all fans know the SEC is a very physical league.

The floor for Jelavic is a solid power forward in the SEC, and the ceiling is one of the best forwards in all of college basketball. With his skill set, Jelavic is the perfect fit to play forward for the Wildcats, and if his upside hits, it will be scary for the Kentucky Wildcats.

Jelavic will have two months and some change to get ready for the 2025 season, and this should be plenty of time for him to get used to the Pope system. Not a lot of college basketball media members are talking about Jelavic, but he will be an under-the-radar star for this basketball team.

This article first appeared on Kentucky Wildcats on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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