What We Know About Tomislav Ivisic's Status – and Other Illinois Injury Updates

A few months ago, it would have been hard to imagine the current state of affairs around the Illinois men's basketball team had it been known then that junior center Tomislav Ivisic would suffer a knee injury that would sideline him for even a semi-significant period.

As it stands, however, the No. 14 Illini are 3-0, coming off a remarkable win over No. 11 Texas Tech and seem to be clicking in perfect syncopation as they approach Friday's home date against Colgate (8 p.m. CT, B1G+) and, more dauntingly, next Wednesday's neutral-site showdown against No. 8 Alabama at Chicago's United Center.

And at the moment, they're doing it all in the absence of Ivisic, their 7-foot-1 offensive dynamo of a starting center. So Illini fans can kick back, enjoy the show and rest easy until his healthy return in the near (or is it distant?) future, right?

Afraid not.

Tomislav Ivisic, Illinois 7-1 C, 22 y/o
-PnR screener specialist: 30 3PTM on pops, 77% on rolls
-36% on 154 3PTA. Shoots easy ball at 7-1
-Effective mix of strength, footwork touch for low post
-Awesome passer, IQ/quick processing evident
-Translation questions around… pic.twitter.com/aokiYJ8J2e
— Jonathan Wasserman (@NBADraftWass) October 3, 2025

Tomislav Ivisic's injury status and why the Illini need him back

The whole of what can be confirmed about Ivisic's knee injury – which he suffered in practice last Wednesday, causing him to miss the past two games – can be summed up in a sentence or two: Ivisic is out indefinitely (though critically not for the season) after Underwood initially said h will "miss a little bit" when first making the injury public last week.

Underwood shed the faintest of lights on the situation after Tuesday's win over Texas Tech: "Tomi's deal's a little bit, as I've said, it's a little bit more complex, just simply because he's missed a lot [of time] and the conditioning piece plays into that. But he won't play Friday."

After that? When asked if he had an Ivisic update in Thursday's press conference, Underwood was blunt: "No."

#Illini Tomislav Ivisic will not play Friday vs. Colgate, per Illinois HC Brad Underwood

Ivisic has missed two games with a lower-body injury. There is no official time table when he returns.

Underwood did say "thankful it wasn't season-ending" last week.

Illinois still beat… pic.twitter.com/gM4qVvQPNX
— Carson Gourdie (@GourdieReport) November 12, 2025

As well as Illinois has played without Ivisic, his absence is cause for worry. The Illini were close to becoming nearly whole (save for Ty Rodgers) before Ivisic's injury, and another setback only limits opportunities for players to learn each other's tendencies, the team to work out kinks and coaches to get a sense of who this team is when the heat is turned up. The whole point of playing the Bamas, UConns and Tennessees in November and December – win or lose – is to figure out what you've got, sharpen the good stuff, chuck the bad and then strap in for the Big Ten season and an NCAA Tournament run. Illinois needs Ivisic – perhaps its best player and definitely its most effective offensive hub – with kicks on the floor, leading the way.

Mihailo Petrovic

Part of the concern about team chemistry has to do with the timing of Ivisic's injury overlapping the expected return of first-year sophomore Mihailo Petrovic. Ivisic and Petrovic – Illinois' projected starting point guard, who didn't arrive on campus until August and has been recovering from hamstring and ankle injuries most weeks since – haven't shared the floor much yet.

Petrovic plays fast, and being the trigger man of the offense, will need to mesh with the Illini's primary frontcourt scorer (and not to mention a key facilitator) for the operation to run as smoothly as possible. Petrovic was in uniform and warmed up with teammates ahead of the Texas Tech game but did not play. Will we see him out there against Colgate?

"We'll see again," Underwood said. "We're at a point now with him, he practiced today. Everything is about the recovery pieces after.

"With Mihailo, it's the hamstring – we don't want to aggravate it. So I'll listen to the trainers and the doctors on that."

Brandon Lee

Freshman guard Brandon Lee, whose rolled ankle last week put a downer on his college debut (17 points) and kept him out the past two games, is in a situation similar to that of Petrovic: his return timetable is fixed to how the injury responds to treatment and initial activity.

"Brandon did some things today," Underwood said Thursday. "I would expect Brandon to be in uniform [Friday]. I don't know what that'll look like that with him. It's just, you know, how sore he is."

With Ivisic and Rodgers unavailable for the moment, and with Andrej Stojakovic having returned from his own knee injury, Petrovic and Lee can get the Illini as close to healthy as they can be for the foreseeable future.

"I would hope so," Underwood said of the prospect of Petrovic and Lee playing Friday. "I hope we could start being able to get those guys back in."