CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) – If one was predicting friendships within the Illinois basketball program, there could be some obvious guesses.

Ben Humrichous and Jake Davis are both from Indiana. The Illini started two European players for most of the 2024-25 campaign in Tomislav Ivisic and Kasparas Jakucionis. The most obvious bond for the 2025-26 team comes in twin brothers Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivisic.

However, it seems less predictable that Champaign native Kylan Boswell and Croatian big man Tomislav Ivisic would wind up perhaps the closest friends on the roster. Boswell says that’s the case.

“I had no idea who that dude was at all,” Boswell said, reflecting back to before the duo joined forces at Illinois ahead of the 2024-25 season.

After just one year together, they’ve built a strong bond. Boswell says part of that is thanks to his history of playing with Europeans. When Ivisic joined Illinois, it wasn’t a new experience for the local point guard.

“I’ve never had a problem with just learning new backgrounds,” Boswell said. “I’ve got a lot of friends I can visit around the world, for sure.”

While playing with players from all over the globe wasn’t necessarily new for the Champaign kid back in his hometown, virtually everything was new for Ivisic as he moved roughly 5,000 miles from home to play for Illinois. The quick friendship was seemingly a major help as the 7-foot-1 big man adjusted to life away from home.

“He’s actually a really good guy,” Tomislav Ivisic said. “Really great teammate. I love talking to him. He’s honest. He tells me everything I need to know straight in my face. I do the same for him. No secrets there, just trying to help each other. And even off the court, we hang out a lot. I’m just glad that he’s back here, and I feel like I had a really good, special connection with him last year.”

Tomislav Ivisic averaged 13 points and 7.7 rebounds per game for the Illini in his first year of college basketball on the 2024-25 season. Boswell, who transferred in after two years at Arizona, averaged 12.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists in his debut season with Illinois.