Kentucky WBB's Kenny Brooks 'confident' in Ajša Sivka's eligibility
· Yahoo Sports
Kentucky women's basketball announced the signing of Ajša Sivka on May 6. The 6-foot-4 Slovenian guard was selected 10th overall by the Chicago Sky in the 2025 WNBA Draft.
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The 20-year-old chose to remain in Europe to play for Slovenia's national team, where she averaged 7.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game in three contests at the EuroBasket Women’s Championship last year.
Despite recent rulings and continued discussions by the NCAA on professional athletes playing collegiate basketball, head coach Kenny Brooks likes where his program stands as far as getting Sivka on campus and in a Wildcat uniform.
"We're very confident that her paperwork will be fine," Brooks told The Courier Journal.
"We're still in the process of making sure all our paperwork is good," Brooks said. "We feel very confident in doing so, because being professional on the women's side in Europe is a little bit different than being a professional on the men's side in Europe."
Why does Sivka's case work?
Men's and women's basketball operate under different draft and eligibility structures when it comes to players pursuing college basketball after professional experience.
In men’s basketball, players must declare for the NBA draft, and professional contracts are now much more closely tied to the loss of NCAA eligibility, especially after recent NCAA guidance targeting NBA and G League agreements. The NCAA has tightened its stance on former professional players in men’s basketball, particularly those who signed NBA contracts or two-way deals or played extensively in high-level overseas leagues.
Women’s basketball, however, functions differently because international players automatically become eligible for the WNBA draft once they reach a certain age, even if they never formally declare for the draft.
Because of those structural differences, women’s basketball currently offers more flexibility for international players transitioning between professional systems and college basketball.
Those rules provide some room for players who have been drafted.
In Sivka's case, the Chicago Sky selected her at 19 years old. She remained in Europe playing professional basketball and, during that time, never signed a contract with the Sky. Chicago still retains the rights to Sivka when she looks to pursue a professional career.
That distinction is critical in preserving her NCAA eligibility. While Sivka has professional experience overseas, she never officially joined the WNBA, which appears to separate her case from players the NCAA has recently ruled ineligible on the men’s side.
While her case aligns with what should give her eligibility, the timeline for that ruling is unknown.
"It's just a process; you have to be patient," Brooks said. "You just have to make sure that you're ready to pivot whenever they ask you for something different. You got to be ready for it. It's a process, you have to go through it, and there's no telling how long it's going to take or how short it would take."
Sivka’s situation has become part of a growing national conversation surrounding international athletes and NCAA eligibility. Her arrival at Kentucky reflects the evolving landscape of women’s basketball, where professional experience overseas does not prevent players from competing at the collegiate level.
College sports enterprise reporter Payton Titus contributed to this report.
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This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky WBB, Kenny Brooks 'confident' in Ajša Sivka's eligibility