Andrija Jelavic’s Emergence Has Become a Catalyst for Kentucky’s Turnaround
Kentucky basketball has found its rhythm again-and it’s not just one thing fueling the Wildcats’ midseason surge. It’s a blend of factors: Otega Oweh stepping into his role as the SEC Preseason Player of the Year, freshman big man Malachi Moreno locking down the paint, and head coach Mark Pope tweaking the offensive game plan.
The defense is tightening up, and bench players are settling into more defined roles thanks to a string of injuries. But if you’re looking for a turning point in this team’s trajectory, there’s one change that stands out.
Since Pope inserted sophomore forward Andrija Jelavic into the starting lineup on Jan. 14 at LSU, Kentucky has rattled off seven wins in eight games. That’s not a coincidence-it’s a shift in identity.
Jelavic’s journey to this moment hasn’t been smooth. The 6-foot-11 Croatian forward was barely in the rotation during nonconference play.
His minutes were sporadic, his presence inconsistent, and his impact minimal. In fact, he didn’t see the floor in three of the six games leading up to his first start.
But when Pope sat down with him during that stretch, Jelavic didn’t pout-he listened.
“I get it. I knew what I was signing up for,” Pope recalled Jelavic saying. “This is how it goes.”
That kind of maturity doesn’t come easy for most college sophomores, but Jelavic isn’t your average underclassman. He arrived in Lexington after two professional seasons in Europe, and it’s clear that experience has shaped his mindset. Now, he’s playing like someone who understands the grind-and is embracing it.
Since being elevated to the starting five, Jelavic is averaging 6.0 points and 4.1 rebounds in just over 17 minutes per game. Those numbers may not jump off the stat sheet, but they only tell part of the story. Jelavic is spacing the floor, hitting threes, and playing with a physical edge that was missing earlier in the season.
He’s knocked down seven triples as a starter and is shooting 42.1% from beyond the arc in SEC play. That kind of shooting from a near 7-footer changes the geometry of the game for Kentucky’s offense. It opens up driving lanes, creates cutting opportunities, and forces defenses to stretch out farther than they’d like.
“The spacing is always important,” Jelavic said. “If they guard us from the inside, we can shoot. If they’re aggressive, we can slash, we can back door.”
It’s not just the shooting, though. Jelavic is starting to play with real force-hitting bodies, crashing the glass, and holding his own defensively. That physicality wasn’t there earlier in the year, but it’s becoming a staple of his game.
“The best players adapt to what the situation is,” Jelavic said. “It was, ‘You’re either gonna hit guys, or you’re not gonna play.’ I’m getting used to hitting guys, and I’m working on it to hit them even harder.”
There have still been bumps. Like most of his teammates, Jelavic struggled in the blowout loss at Vanderbilt and had some defensive lapses in the recent win over Oklahoma. But the overall trend is clear-he’s growing into a key contributor, and his teammates see it.
“He’s a stretch 4 with his outside game,” junior forward Brandon Garrison said. “Coach is challenging him to be more physical, ever since that Arkansas game. He threw the first hit out there, and I feel like he’s taking pride in that.”
Sophomore guard Collin Chandler added, “Ever since he stepped on campus, Coach has been yelling at him to shoot it every time he gets the ball, because he wouldn’t shoot it. And now, I think where we’re at is no one has to say anything to him. He’s shooting the ball, and he’s been shooting it great.”
That confidence didn’t come overnight. It was forged during the tough stretches-when Jelavic was on the bench, trying to learn a new system, a new language, and a new culture.
“Especially here, you’re as good as your last performance,” Jelavic said. “I knew that the time was gonna come when I can prove that.
I knew that things could change overnight. And that’s what keeps me awake, what keeps me grinding.”
Assistant coach Jason Hart has seen the evolution up close.
“He got a little down on himself early in the season, being from another country and trying to come in and learn the language, learn our culture and system,” Hart said. “So when he did sit, he had to sit and learn.
Sometimes, sitting on the bench, it does that to you-it lights a fire up in you. I don’t think he wants to go back to the bench.”
And with Kentucky’s roster thinned by injuries, the Wildcats can’t afford for him to. With just nine scholarship players available, Pope is leaning heavily on his healthy rotation.
Junior guard Jaland Lowe and sophomore wing Kam Williams remain sidelined with long-term injuries. Sophomore forward Jayden Quaintance hasn’t played since Jan. 7, and Pope has chosen to preserve redshirts for freshman Braydon Hawthorne and junior Reece Potter.
That makes every minute Jelavic gives them even more valuable.
“We need him to continue to play strong, shoot with no fear,” Hart said.
Jelavic has answered the call so far. If he keeps trending upward, he might just be one of the reasons this Kentucky team-once shaky and uncertain-can make some noise down the stretch.