NASHVILLE — Anyone who’s ever wondered just how much Mark Pope valued Zvonimir Ivišić’s potential return to Kentucky merely needs to look at timing.
Barely 24 hours after Pope was hired as UK’s new coach, he sat down with Ivišić. Days later, they met again. Despite Pope’s best efforts, Ivišić didn’t remain with the Wildcats.
In a social media post April 15, Ivišić announced he would transfer, following former Kentucky coach John Calipari to Arkansas.
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Was there anything Pope could have said to change Ivišić’s mind?
“Maybe a lot of things,” Ivišić told The Courier Journal in an exclusive interview Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena following Arkansas’ 72-68 win over South Carolina in the first round of the SEC Tournament. “But I don’t know. I don’t know.”
On Jan. 30, two days before the Wildcats hosted the Razorbacks at Rupp Arena, Pope joked about his failed recruitment of the 7-foot-2 Croatian.
“Clearly, I liked him a lot more than he liked me,” Pope said with a chuckle.
Ivišić recalled his first interaction with Pope was a “good conversation,” that involved little talk of basketball.
“We were trying to get to know each other more,” Ivišić said. “I wanted to see how he is as a person and as a coach. He wanted to see how I am.”
“We started talking more about how he wanted me to play, what he wanted me to do at Kentucky,” Ivišić said, “and stuff like that.”
Ultimately, Pope’s pitch wasn’t enough.
“It wasn’t just about me,” Ivišić said. “I had to talk with my family, talk with my group. And we decided it was best for me to go to Arkansas than stay in Kentucky. That was it.”
