Illinois basketball lands massive transfer portal big man for 2025-26

The Illinois basketball had been in a bit of a funk when it comes to the transfer portal.

Sure, we have secured the pledge of a few players from the team last season, but the Illini had yet to land a transfer portal player. That was until Saturday afternoon.

On Saturday, Zvonimir Ivisic took to social media to announce that he was committing to Illinois. This is a huge commitment for the Orange and Blue and one that will stabilize the middle of the Illini lineup.

Ivisic has spent two seasons in the college game. After coming over from Croatia, he played for Kentucky in 2023-24. During that freshman campaign, he averaged 5.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per contest.

After one season with the Wildcats, Ivisic hit the transfer portal. This was due to the then-head coach John Calipari taking off for Arkansas. Ivisic then followed by committing to the Razorbacks.

This past season, Ivisic improved on his numbers, averaging 8.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per contest. Ivisic then entered the transfer portal again after the season and was finding a new home. A pretty obvious answer to the question of where he would land was Illinois.

Illinois basketball has a special one-two punch in the paint after landing transfer portal big man Zvonimir Ivisic

I love what Illinois is getting with Ivisic. He can rebound and block, so the defensive side of the court should improve. I also love his offensive prowess.

Ivisic is a 73.8% career free throw shooter. That is a huge plus for a big man. He also attempted 3.6 three-pointers per game in 35 contests this past season and hit them at a clip of 37.6%.

Illinois now has two monsters in the paint, too. Zvonimir is now joining his brother, Tomislav, at Illinois. These two monsters are going to be legendary for this program. Brad Underwood is zigging when everyone else is zagging.

Next season, Illinois is going to start two players who are 7-foot-1 or bigger. Both players shoot at least 35% from three-point range too. That is something no other team in college basketball can claim. This should be a really fun season to watch.