From the moment he arrived in Lexington and told Big Blue Nation he was “excited to get number nine” to riding ziplines, eating s’mores and hitting the lake with his teammates to joining the Wildcats on the floor for the start of fall workouts at Kentucky, Andrija Jelavic hasn’t missed a beat. So much was made about the eight weeks he missed this summer due to academic and logistical delays, but by the sound of things, the Croatian forward isn’t too far behind at all.
A big reason for that? The guys who did spend eight weeks this summer in Lexington.
For most in Jelavic’s shoes, the learning curve transitioning from overseas to the states is steep — most of which has nothing to do with basketball. It’s about learning the American way of life, beyond the typical struggles that come with adjusting to college as a student-athlete…