Before Aaron Bradshaw’s UK debut, he formed a close bond with Big Z. ‘He cares a lot.’

The first member of Kentucky’s 7-footers club is finally on the basketball court.

Before he got there, Aaron Bradshaw made a new friend.

Anyone paying attention to UK’s trio of 7-footers — and there were plenty of people paying attention to UK’s trio of 7-footers — saw the bond form quickly over the past few weeks. Bradshaw and Zvonimir Ivisic — the Wildcats’ 7-foot-2 recruit from Croatia — were constantly joking around on the court before and during games, relegated to the sidelines as they watched their teammates and waited for their own college basketball debuts.

The ESPN cameras caught Ivisic playfully pinching Bradshaw on the bench late in Kentucky’s 95-72 victory over No. 8 Miami a couple of weeks ago. Unable to warm up with their teammates on the Rupp floor before games, the two would often kid around on the perimeter. Both players’ Instagram accounts have regularly featured updates on the other’s progress, celebrating positive steps made toward getting onto the court this season.

Bradshaw finally did so last weekend, making his college basketball debut — and tallying three points, two rebounds and one blocked shot — in Kentucky’s 80-73 loss to UNC Wilmington. A week later, a much better outcome. UK beat Penn 81-66 in Philadelphia — right across the river from where Bradshaw completed his high school career — and the 7-1 Wildcat was the star, recording 17 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots in 29 minutes off the bench.

Midway through the second half, with the Cats clinging to a two-point lead, Bradshaw caught the ball on the wing — no Penn defender anywhere near him — took a step back behind the 3-point line, and let it fly.

A few feet away, toward the end of the UK bench, sat Ivisic, who rose to his feet while the ball was in flight and threw both hands into the air — three fingers sticking up on each one — as the ball fell through the net.

A couple of days earlier, Bradshaw sat in the Joe Craft Center back in Lexington, reflecting on his debut and talking about a new friend he’d known for less than two months.

“Z? It’s like having a 7-foot child with you at all times,” he said. “Z is probably the funniest person on the team, and he cares a lot. … He’s like one of my closest friends.”

Bradshaw, Ivisic and sophomore big man Ugonna Onyenso — the shortest of the trio at a mere 7 feet, 0 inches — have all been in the same boat to start this season. Bradshaw and Onyenso have been recovering from offseason foot injuries. Ivisic, who didn’t arrive in the United States until Oct. 12, has been waiting on the NCAA to make a ruling on his eligibility status before he can play. The three regularly sat next to each other on Kentucky’s bench, watching and waiting.

The two freshmen formed an especially close friendship during that time. Bradshaw said the similar circumstances helped cultivate the bond, each freshman wanting desperately to play, neither able to do so due to circumstances beyond their control.

UK fans have already come to know Bradshaw as one of the most affable Wildcats in years. A perfect match for Big Z’s apparently silly demeanor.

“That’s just his personality,” Bradshaw said. “He’s just a really funny — real generous — person. You can’t ask for another 7-footer. That’s the perfect 7-footer. Play basketball. Funny. Do everything.”

Amid the hurdles — Ivisic has had multiple illnesses since arriving in Kentucky, along with other ailments that sidelined him from practice — the two have kept each other’s spirits high.

“We talk every day,” Bradshaw said. “… We were in the same boat. So I just tell him every day, ‘Bro, it’s a process.’ … Stuff is not always going to go your way. Now let’s see what you can do without the basketball part. Let’s see how you do in school. How you do in other stuff. And just becoming a better person.”

Bradshaw also revealed that he, Ivisic and Onyenso have their own text group, where they communicate throughout the day. He said the group is actually named, “The 7-footers,” and it’s understandably limited in its membership.

“If you’re not 7-foot or over, can’t get in,” Bradshaw said. “Sorry.”

Onyenso and Big Z coming soon?

Now that Bradshaw is actually on the court — and seemingly headed for a much bigger role on this Kentucky team — it was Ivisic and Onyenso sitting and watching together Saturday.

John Calipari said in his pregame radio interview before the UK-Penn matchup that Onyenso continues to progress from his July surgery and could be ready to make his season debut as soon as Saturday against North Carolina at the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta. He’s already been practicing with the team in a limited manner.

With preseason All-America center Armando Bacot waiting in that game, it could be a tough landing spot, however. UK plays at Louisville five days later before returning home to face Illinois State on Dec. 29, the final tuneup before SEC play begins at Florida on Jan. 6.

Onyenso showed immense potential as a shot-blocker last season, and it sounds like he’ll make his debut before the end of the calendar year, even if it doesn’t come Saturday.

There’s been no recent update on Ivisic’s situation. He’s still practicing with the team — thanks to an NCAA waiver that allows him to do so as he waits — but the ruling body has not come down with a judgment yet on his amateur status. Ivisic has checked all academic boxes for eligibility, but he played for a professional team in Europe before coming to the United States, and the circumstances around that situation continue to cloud his future. (The Herald-Leader has been told that Ivisic’s former pro team has been cooperating fully with the NCAA’s fact-finding mission and is completely in support of his hope to play for Kentucky.)

The illnesses and conditioning issues that Ivisic has endured since his arrival have also cast doubt over his ability to compete for the Cats right away, even if he’s cleared, though he has apparently shown incredible upside in Kentucky’s practices when healthy, impressing teammates and coaches with a versatile style of play, including his long-range shooting and ball-handling ability.

Bradshaw’s been on the practice floor with him for only a couple of weeks, but he’s been impressed, too. He says Ivisic — known as “Big Z” or simply “Z” around the team — is a competitive player and someone who’s teaching him new things about the game.

As their friendship off the court has grown, they’re both benefiting from their basketball bond.

“Many things that he does out there, I can learn from,” Bradshaw said. “On the screen, he rolls to the basket different from how we do up here. So I’m just taking little stuff like that. Asking questions about blocking shots, because he’s a really good player.

“So I’m just trying to give what I got to him, and he’s just trying to give what he’s got to me.”

Next game

No. 14 Kentucky vs. No. 9 North Carolina

What: CBS Sports Classic

When: Saturday, Dec. 16 at about 5:30 p.m. (following a game between Ohio State and UCLA that starts at 3 p.m. on the same court)

Where: State Farm Arena in Atlanta

TV: CBS-27

Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1

Records: Kentucky 7-2, North Carolina 7-2

Series: North Carolina leads 25-17

Last meeting: Kentucky won 98-69 on Dec. 17, 2021, at the CBS Sports Classic in Las Vegas

This story was originally published December 10, 2023 at 6:00 PM.

Ben Roberts

Lexington Herald-Leader

859-429-2848

Ben Roberts is the University of Kentucky men’s basketball beat writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader. He has previously specialized in UK basketball recruiting coverage and created and maintained the Next Cats blog. He is a Franklin County native and first joined the Herald-Leader in 2006. Support my work with a digital subscription