Kentucky coach Mark Pope is getting closer to finalizing his roster for next season.
Reece Potter, a 7-foot-1 center transfer from Miami (Ohio), announced his commitment to Kentucky on Monday. Potter played at Lexington Catholic and played at Miami for the past two seasons.
Potter averaged 6.3 points and 3.4 rebounds in 56 games at Miami. He started 11 games and shot 45 percent from the floor. A junior, Potter will have two seasons of eligibility remaining and chose Kentucky over Dayton, New Mexico State, California and Wisconsin.
Following a stellar career at Lexington. Catholic, where he averaged 17.9 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, he was recruited by Xavier, Saint Louis and Western Kentucky. He committed to Xavier, but then chose Miami.
Earlier on Monday, the Wildcats officially added Andrija Jelavić to the roster. A native of Zagreb, Croatia, he spent the past two years with KK Mega Superbet. He previously suited up for OKK Beograd, KK Mega Leks U18 and KK Cedevita Olimpija Junior. He possesses a 7-foot-2 wingspan.
In 26 games last season, Jelavić has made 13 starts and is shooting 50% from the field, while draining 24 3-pointers at a 32.0% clip. He has charted 192 total rebounds, including 41 on the offensive end. He has dished out 38 assists and collected 25 steals.
“Andrija is a really skilled, athletic, mobile, veteran player who has been playing at a high level for the last two years,” Pope said. “He’s been mentored through the development program at Mega, which is one of the best development centers for great players in Europe.
"Andrija has a really unique combination of size, athleticism and skill that will translate seamlessly into our system. When we did our Zoom, you could see the emotion on his face of how much Kentucky means to him and that he cannot wait to wear a Kentucky jersey.”
COMBINE CALLS
Koby Brea and Orega Oweh received an invite to the NBA Combine that will be May 11-18 in Chicago.
Oweh is leaving open the possibility of returning to Kentucky and is one of 75 players who received an invitation to the combine and has a deadline of May 28 to decide to remain in the draft or return to college.
"Otega is going through this draft process, and we're cheering for him every step of the way," Pope told Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports last week. “But I know a lot of his heart is back here at Kentucky. And if he does return, he will return as the presumptive SEC Player of the Year favorite, and clearly, he's got a beautiful future ahead of him."
Transfer Jaland Lowe received an invite to the NBA G League Elite Camp. Kentucky center Amari Williams also will be one of 44 players who will participate in the camp set for May 9-11 in Chicago.
