Who is Illinois Basketball's X-Factor – and What Is His Ceiling and Floor?

Every college basketball season involves a number of question marks and unknowns – perhaps none more so than the 2024-25 campaign that saw Illinois turn over its roster and bring in 10 newcomers. But even this year, with seven additions to the team, the realm of possibilities for the Illini – and that of each individual player – is far and wide.

Still, Illinois coach Brad Underwood has a pretty good idea what he should get out of most of his guys. Take Tomislav Ivisic and Kylan Boswell, for example. Each owns a long track record against competition at this level, has been an Illini for a full season and was a massive contributor last season. The hope is that each will take incremental steps forward, but for the most part, Ivisic and Boswell are known entities.

Elsewhere, Cal transfer Andrej Stojakovic is joining a new squad and may see his role shift, at least somewhat. Although he’ll be forced to adjust, and despite the fact the range of outcomes for his upcoming campaign may be wider than Illinois' stalwarts, Stojakovic is a proven high-major player.

But Illinois has another transfer who appears to have a myriad of potential outcomes for the upcoming season: Arkansas’ Zvonimir Ivisic. His two previous college seasons (he played at Kentucky as a freshman) provide the foundation for what could be a breakout season. But as a frontcourt player who isn't quite a 5 and isn't quite a 4, he could find himself pushed deeper into the rotation if Underwood doesn't land on a lineup featuring Zvonimir and twin brother Tomislav – especially if international signee David Mirkovic and redshirt freshman Jason Jakstys develop quickly.

That's what makes Zvonimir – a unique, potentially high-impact 3-and-D contributor – Illinois' X-Factor for the 2025-26 season.At his best, Zvonimir can be a high-volume, elite three-point shooter, while adding excellent rim protection and defensive disruption, as well as solid rebounding numbers. If that sounds outlandish, just take a look at his per-30-minutes rates from last season (when he actually played 19.1 per game for the Razorbacks): 13.4 points and 2.1 threes per game (on 37.6 percent shooting), 6.8 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 2.9 blocks.