CHAMPAIGN — Beyond a bout with mononucleosis, a tussle with the flu and a turned ankle, Tomislav Ivisic’s first season in college basketball was a pretty good one.
Of course, those three separate incidents — he only missed time with mono, but was a game-time decision at Wisconsin and turned an ankle against Rutgers — were quite the inconvenience and interrupted an otherwise strong year.
Ivisic earned Third Team All-Big Ten after playing in 32 games with 31 starts — the illness at Wisconsin led to him coming off the bench — and he led Illinois in rebounding (7.7) and blocks (1.2) and was second in scoring (13.0). Ivisic was fourth in the Big Ten with 11 double-doubles, and the 7-foot-1 center shot 35.7% on 3-pointers and 49.2% overall.
Pretty good season, all things considered. Now, Ivisic returns to the Illini as one of the top centers in the Big Ten. His offseason has been focused on improving some elements of his game that he showed prior to arriving in Champaign while continuing to add strength.
“His leg strength is through the roof. He’s bouncier, he’s stronger,” head coach Brad Underwood said. “I think we’ve got to be able to handle switching much better and being able to take advantage of him in post-ups. He was a really good post player in Europe, and he, to be honest, didn’t have a great year doing that, no matter who was guarding him. I think that’s one of the big things we’ve worked on. He’s been working on a hook shot a lot that he used to shoot. We never saw him shoot it last year. He’s a very good — not jump hook — hook shooter. He’s been working on that. I think just being able to add a bounce or two to his ball-handling repertoire will help as well.”
New this year for Ivisic, beyond anything within his game? His twin brother, Zvonimir Ivisic, has signed with the Illini after spending last year at Arkansas. Underwood assumed Zvonimir would have been preparing for the NBA Draft around this time, and said the 7-foot-2 center “fell into our lap” this offseason given the obvious connection with Tomislav and the connection with lead recruiter Orlando Antigua.
Zvonimir has signed with Illini but has not yet been fully admitted to school, meaning he has been unable to participate in summer workouts to this point. He averaged 8.5 points and 4.3 rebounds last season for the Razorbacks while starting in 19 of his 35 games played. Like his brother, Zvonimir shot well (37.6%) on 3-pointers and averaged 1.9 blocks.
Could both Ivisic brothers share the floor together? Early indications are yes, at least as early on in the summer and fall.
“I think, one, there’s a lot of history of those two playing together, which is very encouraging,” Underwood said. “Obviously, they’re twins, so there’s great chemistry and great connectivity. I think Tomi is in a great spot. He’s just under 260 pounds now. He was here all of May. He’s had a great spring with Fletch. I think (strength and conditioning coach Adam Fletcher) is as pleased with him as he could be. Then you’ve got Z, who is 230 and needs strength and needs to continue to grow in that area of the game, and he’ll do that. He’s going to work really, really hard.
“I look forward to both of ’em on the court. They’re different in terms of the way they play. They’re both high IQ. It will just be getting Z more up to speed. I would, at this point in time, expect them to be on the court a decent amount together. Very excited about that because I think they complement each other very well.”
Boswell befitting of leadership role
Kylan Boswell rolled into Illinois last season — a return home for the Champaign native — entering his third year of college basketball, yet still just 19 years old.
Boswell had seen enough of the college basketball world to know both what it takes to be a leader and what it looks like to be one. He just had to find his voice on a newly-constructed team with plenty of youth and players who hadn’t otherwise been in leadership roles. It was a delicate line.
Yet by the postseason, it was clear that Boswell wished he had done more in that department. Now entering his second year with Illinois, he plans to enforce some of the things he wished he did last season, specifically in terms of keeping the appropriate energy in key moments.
It doesn’t hurt that Boswell figures to be a key cog on both ends of the floor. He’s a defensive menace as an on-ball defender who relishes the opportunity against top guards in the country, and he averaged 12.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists.
In his second year with the Illini, there should be a confluence of leadership and on-court production.
“Newness and youth were stuff that he as a veteran knows what that should look like,” Underwood said. “I think as good as last year was, it was also very challenging and not just for the sickness, the injuries and the mono. Just our youth, the youthful mistakes, the understanding the moment and what that moment was, whatever it was. We didn’t handle those situations great; whether it was a side out-of-bounds play, whether it was a defensive stop, whatever that possession or that moment was, we were sometimes just not quite ready for that. I think those are the things that he’s talking about that he understands, but we just didn’t perform maybe the way we wanted to in those moments. I think he’s well adept at making sure we handle those this year and those experiences will help.”
Stojakovic ‘gifted athletically’
Illinois made a splash in the transfer portal this offseason by signing California transfer Andrej Stojakovic, the son of NBA All-Star Peja Stojakovic.
Stojakovic last season at Cal averaged 17.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.2 blocks and 0.8 steals while shooting 42.7% from the field and 31.8% on 3-pointers.
247Sports ranked Stojakovic the No. 32 player in the transfer portal, and he had interest from North Carolina, Stanford, USC, Kentucky, Florida, Clemson, LSU, Cincinnati and UCONN, according to 247Sports’ Travis Branham.
Stojakovic is expected to be a primary offensive option for the Illini, and his game could allow Illinois to use him as it did Marcus Domask and Will Riley as a playmaking wing.
“He’s an elite athlete. He’s gifted athletically,” Underwood said. “He’s what I call a very, very good head rammer. He’s a terrific finisher; can dunk with either hand, finishes 12 feet and in maybe as well as anybody that we’ve had. He’s got great strength. I think once he has time with Fletch, that will continue to grow. I think he’s an underrated shooter.
“Obviously, the comparisons to his dad aren’t fair. The guy is one of the great shooters in the history of the game. I think he’s had to take a lot of hard shots. I think he’s a really good shooter. I think he can be a high 30s, low 40s type guy. I think what he does, his versatility to live in the paint and have the ability to finish in the mid-range makes him pretty special. Then his athleticism, he’s right hand, left hand, very, very gifted and skilled that way.”
Stojakovic told Illini Inquirer’s Derek Piper that he knows teams are overlooking the Illini on the defensive end. He’s a long (6-foot-9 wingspan entering college) defender who averaged 1.2 blocks last season. Though he can be in a mismatch on the wing at times defensively, his length and anticipation as a shotblocker are good.
Plus, Stojakovic appears to want to take that step forward on the defensive side of the ball and clearly embraced Underwood’s chip-on-the-shoulder approach.
“He’s got a great understanding,” Underwood said. “I think when you want to be a next-level guy, I think the easiest thing you can do is understand you can get there defensively. I think you look at (Terrence Shannon Jr.) and understand that TJ became an elite defender, and that helps keep him in that league. Multiple guys aren’t going to shoot the basketball in the NBA. There’s going to be a couple guys who shoot the basketball a lot, and usually as a rookie, you’re not. Dre’s got all the tools. He’s got all the ability. He’s got great quickness and great feet. I think his plan moving forward is to continue to enhance that, and I think he can be an outstanding defender and as good a defender as there is in our program. I say that, and we have Kylan Boswell, who I think is pretty doggone good.”
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