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Welcome to “Good Morning, Illini Nation,” your daily dose of college basketball news from Illini beat writer and AP Top 25 voter Scott Richey. He’ll offer up insights every morning on Brad Underwood’s team and college basketball at large:
Yes, Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivisic are twins. No, they’re not the same player, as they use their 7-foot-plus frames differently. They bring complementary, not entirely overlapping, skills and abilities to the basketball court.
So the offseason plan Illinois strength and conditioning coach Adam Fletcher had for Tomislav Ivisic heading into his second season in Champaign wasn’t going to work for Zvonimir Ivisic ahead of his first.
“Zvonimir has a different twitch about him,” Fletcher said on his Saturday SportsTalk appearance last weekend. “He’s more fast twitch. He gets off the ground a little bit quicker than Tomi. He’s not as physically demanding in terms of holding positioning on the block and leverage.”
Zvonimir Ivisic had some impressive performances the last two seasons at Kentucky and then Arkansas. The 7-2 center put up 13 points, five rebounds, three blocks, two steals and two assists in his Kentucky debut in January 2024 against Georgia. He also had 18 points, five rebounds and four blocks a month later against Alabama.
The end of the regular season last year with the Razorbacks saw the Vodice, Croatia, native top score at least 20 points three times in five games (the first three and still only three instances in his college career). The first came on the heels of putting up nine points, 12 rebounds, four blocks and two assists in an early February game at Texas.
Getting more consistency from the big man newcomer is Illinois’ goal. What Fletcher devised for his offseason plan could help in that regard.
“For Zvonimir, we wanted to add weight to help him with physical contact,” Fletcher said. “Even if you watch our game against (Arkansas) last year you can see that. That’s an area Zvonimir has to continue to improve at. We want him to be able to brace, hold position and hold ground and then be able to go and get.
“That’s his gift. His gift is shot blocking. His gift is his athleticism off the floor. He’s a quick jumper. He jumps really high for his size. Keep what’s good, good, and work on the weaknesses, which was just body composition, adding weight and being able to brace and hold position. That will help him defend down in the paint and also keep him moving and defend on the perimeter.”