Zvonimir Ivišić (born 9 August 2003), nicknamed "Big Z", is a Croatian

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

player on the

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the College athletics, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's Varsity team, varsity sports. The university op ...

of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

. He formerly played for the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville. The University of Arkans ...

and the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30, ...

of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

Early life

Ivišić was born in

Vitez Vitez ( sr-cyrl, Витез) is a town and municipality located in the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 2013 census, the town has a population of 6,329 inhab ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

and moved to

Šibenik Šibenik (), historically known as Sebenico (), is a historic town in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka (Croatia), Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is one of the oldest Croatia, Croatian self-governing cities ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

when he was 14 years old. He played for SC Derby of the

Montenegrin Basketball League The Prva A liga, for sponsorships reasons named the Erste Liga, is the top-tier professional basketball league in Montenegro. It is the highest basketball division organized by the Basketball Association of Montenegro (KSCG). It was established in ...

and the

ABA League The ABA League, renamed the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the top-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedoni ...

from 2020 to 2023. Ivišić declared for the NBA Draft in 2022 and 2023, but ultimately withdrew both times.

College career

Kentucky

Ivišić committed to play

in the United States for the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

. He was not declared eligible to play by the NCAA until halfway into the

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...

' season. Ivišić made his collegiate debut on January 20, 2024, against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and had 13 points, five rebounds, two assists, three blocks and two steals in 16 minutes played during a 105–96 win. He averaged 5.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks over 15 games played during his freshman season. Ivišić announced he would be entering the NCAA transfer portal shortly after it was reported that Kentucky head coach

John Calipari John Vincent Calipari (; born February 10, 1959) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach at the Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball, University of Arkansas. He has been named Naismith College Coach of the Year three times (1996, 2 ...

would be leaving the program to become the head coach at

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

Arkansas

Ivišić transferred to play at Arkansas, following Calipari.

Illinois

Following his sophomore season, Ivišić transferred to Illinois.

National team career

Ivišić was named to the Croatia national under-16 basketball team and played in the

2019 FIBA U16 European Championship The 2019 FIBA U16 European Championship was the 33rd edition of the FIBA U16 European Championship, Under-16 European Basketball Championship. The competition took place from 9 to 17 August 2019 in Udine, Italy. The top five teams qualified for th ...

. He also played for Croatia in the

2023 FIBA U20 European Championship The 2023 FIBA U20 European Championship was the 24th edition of the European basketball championship for men's national under-20 teams. It was played from 8 to 16 July 2023 in Heraklion, Greece. Participating teams * * * (Third place, 2022 FI ...

and averaged 11.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.4 blocks per game.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2023–24 , style="text-align:left;",

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, 15 , , 0 , , 11.7 , , .577 , , .375 , , .773 , , 3.3 , , 0.6 , , 0.3 , , 1.3 , , 5.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2024–25 , style="text-align:left;",

, 35 , , 19 , , 19.1 , , .473 , , .376 , , .724 , , 4.3 , , .8 , , .7 , , 1.9 , , 8.5

Personal life

Zvonimir's twin brother Tomislav Ivišić is also a professional basketball player with whom he moved to

from his hometown

when he was 14 to play for Šibenka. They both moved to

Podgorica Podgorica ( cnr-Cyrl, Подгорица; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city is just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. Histor ...

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

to play for SC Derby.

References

External links

Kentucky Wildcats bioArkansas Razorbacks bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ivišić, Zvonimir 2003 births Living people ABA League players Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball players Centers (basketball) Croatian expatriate basketball people in the United States Croatian men's basketball players 21st-century Croatian sportsmen Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players KK Studentski centar players