Was Brad Underwood Wrong to Play Illinois’ Tomislav Ivisic Against Alabama?

We had been saying it all offseason, and then into the 2025-26 campaign: Tomislav Ivisic is probably Illinois’ best player. Even after his – how do we put this gently? – lackluster return from injury against Alabama, the 7-foot-1 big man may still be worthy of that title.

Sure, both Andrej Stojakovic and Kylan Boswell are giving Ivisic a run for his money, but Ivisic – the man in the middle – offers tremendous value between his shooting, facilitating, finishing around the rim and ability to be a game-altering defensive presence.

Illinois' Tomislav Ivisic should have been held out against Alabama

Regardless, we can all agree Ivisic is a huge piece of the puzzle for the Illini. Whether in spite or because of that fact, he should not have been active in Illinois' 90-86 loss to Alabama. Assuming his knee was at 100 percent (which may be wishful thinking), Ivisic still shouldn’t have suited up. His conditioning was nowhere near ready – especially for the pace at which Alabama plays.

As Illinois coach Brad Underwood has drilled home all season, Ivisic has hardly practiced – and that was quite evident on Wednesday. After checking in, he was dog-tired after a few possessions up and down the floor. That's not on him. Players play. Ivisic is a gamer. Given the chance, he's on the floor.

Obviously, Ivisic wanted to go, but that doesn’t mean he should have. He took off more than he brought to the table, scoring just three points and grabbing three rebounds in 15 minutes, while turning the ball over twice (and getting bailed out with a foul call on another near turnover).

TOMI TREY

2H 10:52 | Illinois 53, Alabama 58 pic.twitter.com/QFeckl41OI
— Illinois Men's Basketball (@IlliniMBB) November 20, 2025

Ivisic, out of condition, demonstrated a glaring lack of physicality. His effort on the boards was low. Defensively, he did what he could, but he was far from his usual self. (He did his best when switching on to Alabama's guards, but he was too often eaten up.)

It goes without saying: In a perfect world, featuring a healthy, well-conditioned Ivisic, the Illini have absolutely no reason not to play him as much as makes sense. Even against a guard-heavy Bama squad, Ivisic provides more thsn he takes away.

“We need his intellect,” Underwood said in his postgame press conference. "We need his shooting, his passing – we need that."

Agreed. There would have been no better time to have both than against Alabama. Unfortunately, life is imperfect and almost none of that (aside from a single three) was on display from Ivisic on Wednesday.

In Underwood’s defense ... when was the right time to bring Ivisic back? (It's a rhetorical question. We actually have strong opinions.) No amount of practice reps can replicate game reps. Game shape is reached only by playing in games.

“We can’t just push the button and say you’re in great shape,” Underwood said following the loss.

But here’s an idea: Get Ivisic ready in the next two games. With Long Island and UT Rio Grande on deck, Ivisic would have had two fantastic opportunities to get himself ramped up for UConn. Instead, the Illini rolled out a poorly conditioned version of Ivisic who was simply unequipped to keep up with the Crimson Tide, unable to offer positive value, all while risking aggravation of his knee injury.

In time, both Ivisic and Illinois will be fine – and the Illini still remain a legitimate Final Four candidate. But Underwood’s decision to play Ivisic against Alabama was ill-advised and not just unnecessary but detrimental to the team.