Surprising Stat Highlights Underrated Impact of Illinois' Tomislav Ivisic

At 7-foot-1, he was able to stretch defenses, drawing opposing bigs out of the paint and in turn opening up driving lanes for teammates.

Then there was his playmaking. His 2.3 assists per game may not jump off the stats page, but Ivisic was an excellent facilitator – especially from the mid-post. Add his fancy footwork and feathery touch around the basket, and Ivisic's offensive impact becomes evident from all three levels.

On defense, Ivisic’s 1.2 blocks per game were noteworthy, but they hardly encapsulate the difference-maker he was on that end. A shot-deterring help-side defender, Ivisic often discouraged opposing guards and wings from even attempting a shot. Before his bout with mono zapped him of his full strength, Ivisic was arguably the conference’s best one-on-one post defender, using his wiry strong frame and next-level anticipation to force opposing posts into difficult shots or to kick the ball outside.

A two-way monster, Ivisic’s abilities are well-documented. Still, his true impact may be hidden – even from the best basketball minds.Fortunately, the numbers never lie:

In the past 15 years (since the 2010-2011 season), Ivisic’s box plus/minus of 10.7 from 2024-2025 is the second-highest single-season figure recorded at Illinois, trailing only Terrence Shannon Jr.'s 11.5 from 2023-2024.First, a quick breakdown of the statistic:

Regular plus/minus is simply a compilation of the differences in team scoring when a player is on the floor – a number that has some efficacy but can be heavily influenced by the other four teammates sharing the floor with a player.

Box plus/minus (BPM), on the other hand, attempts to isolate an individual player's impact, removing any confounding variables (teammates) from the equation, and further refines standard plus/minus with long-term data sets and a per-100-possessions model.

A box plus/minus of 0.0 is a perfectly average player.Ivisic’s was a whopping 10.7.

To clarify, no single stat – even the most advanced – can truly encompass the full value of a player, but it can certainly give you an idea. BPM does that.

For a bit more context, Ivisic's BPM from last season ranked fourth in the Big Ten – behind those of Michigan State's Jase Richardson (11.6), Oregon's Nathan Bittle (11.4), Wisconsin's John Tonje (11.0) – and in the top 50 of BPM figures in the conference since 2010-11.

Heading into next season, with a year of Big Ten basketball under his belt and (knock on wood) fully healthy, Ivisic could see both his numbers and overall impact grow in a key role – if not the key role – for the Illini.

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