Last week Kentucky's basketball roster for the 2025-26 season really started to come together, to the point where it's almost a finished product.

The addition of 6'11 Croatian forward Andrija Jelavic was a part of putting the puzzle together.

Here are takes from the Cats Illustrated staff on what the addition of Jelavic means.

David Sisk: Andrija Jelavic should provide quality depth to Kentucky’s inside game. I think that is very important in the SEC landscape. To do that on the same day as the a Brandon Garrison return was a coup. Granted, we are still learning about him, but I like a 21 year old European better than an 18 year old. It also seems to me that Mark Pope’s system is a fit for a Euro big. He can handle the ball in the perimeter, and he is skilled. But a 6-11 he can also score at the rim. Most of Mark Pope’s halftime adjustments were based on getting the ball inside in the second half. It was a positive move, how positive still remains to be seen.

Jeff Drummond: International players can be hard to track, but you have to like everything we are hearing about Andrija Jelavic. When one of the top scouts told CI’s David Sisk that he reminds him of Alabama’s Grant Nelson, I was sold. That’s exactly the kind of piece that Mark Pope needs on this roster. Croatian kids are typically well-coached from a young age. You can expect him to be fundamentally sound and advanced in his passing and shooting skills.

Justin Rowland: One thing that stands out when you watch Jelavic's highlights is that he's playing a different style of basketball than you typically see in the states, even if American basketball has moved more in the direction of what you see in Europe, and that does make it hard to fix expectations for someone making a big transition to the college game. But I see someone who can tee up a nice three-point shot and has the threat of putting the ball on the floor and attacking the rim. I'm expecting him to be someone who runs the court, is able to find a spot on the perimeter for open shots, but my expectations for Year 1 are modest because of the other frontcourt players Kentucky has brought in. I think he will be someone who gets a decent amount of minutes early in the year, and we've seen that guys tend to stick in Pope's rotation as he wants to play more guys than John Calipari did. But I don't know if he could emerge as a leading player or if he will drift toward the back of the rotation yet. He seems to fit the system well and is an older kid with size.