Former UK player Andrija Jelavic commits to new school from transfer portal
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- Former UK basketball player Andrija Jelavic commits to new school from transfer portal.
- Jelavic will play the 2026-27 season at Ohio State.
- Jelavic, who is from Croatia, played one season at Kentucky for head coach Mark Pope.
After spending one season at Kentucky, Andrija Jelavic has found his next college basketball stop.
Jelavic, a 6-foot-11 forward from Croatia, committed to Ohio State on Friday night from the NCAA transfer portal. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress was the first to report Jelavic’s commitment.
A native of Croatia, Jelavic was Kentucky’s final roster addition ahead of the 2025-26 season. Jelavic was playing for a professional team in Serbia when he committed to the Wildcats, and the academic calendar in Europe meant Jelavic was a late arrival to Kentucky’s campus. Jelavic missed all of UK’s eight-week summer practice session last year.
After beginning the season as a backup, Jelavic was inserted by Mark Pope into UK’s starting lineup early in SEC play. Jelavic held down that starting spot for the rest of the season. He averaged 5.5 points and 4.0 rebounds in 15.6 minutes per game across 32 appearances for UK. Jelavic made just 27.6% of his 3-point tries, going 21 of 76 from deep.
All 20 of Jealvic’s starts for the Cats came against SEC opponents or as part of the NCAA Tournament.
Jelavic was classified by the NCAA as a sophomore this past season because of his professional experience overseas. This means Jelavic has two seasons of college eligibility remaining, starting with his 2026-27 campaign.
When Jelavic entered the transfer portal on April 7, he kept open the option of returning to Kentucky for a second season with the Wildcats. That door shut Friday with his commitment to the Buckeyes.
Jelavic, who turns 22 years old in May, joins an Ohio State program that was an 8 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
The Buckeyes are bringing in a five-star recruit from the high school ranks for next season in the form of small forward Anthony Thompson, who was a major UK recruiting target.
Seven players from UK’s 2025-26 team have entered the transfer portal this offseason. Jelavic is the second of these players to settle on a new school. Earlier Friday, senior guard Denzel Aberdeen committed to Florida from the portal.
Aberdeen — who began his college career by playing three seasons for the Gators — would need an NCAA waiver to play a fifth season of college basketball.
Also in the portal from this past season’s Kentucky team are freshman guard Jasper Johnson, sophomore guard Collin Chandler, junior forward Brandon Garrison, junior guard Jaland Lowe and junior forward Mouhamed Dioubate.
