On Tuesday evening, Illini men’s basketball officially announced the reported signing of Croatian forward Toni Bilić as a midseason addition to the team. Although Bilić is eligible, Illinois confirmed that he will not play in any games for the remainder of the 2025-26 campaign. Instead, he will be a full participant in practice and hit the weight room with strength and conditioning coach Adam Fletcher to focus on his development both on and off the court.
“Toni is a multi-positional, skilled player who we are excited to have join us in practice,” said head coach Brad Underwood in a statement. “He comes from a basketball family; he has good feel for the game and a high IQ. He is a downhill, slasher type player with a high motor. Toni will jump in right away with Coach Fletch in the weight room; he has a high ceiling and is ready to get to work.”
The young prospect is now the sixth Balkan player on Illinois’ roster. Since he will not play in games for the Illini until next season, Bilić should not burn a year of eligibility by joining the team at the semester break. Essentially, the rest of this season is a redshirt year for Bilić, who wouldn’t have seen time on the floor anyway for a very deep Illini roster.
At 6-foot-8 and 210 pounds, Bilić needs to mature physically and get much stronger, but his on-court game also needs work. He is not coming to college basketball with as successful of a professional resume as any of Illinois’ other European imports, so practicing the rest of this year is the best way for him to adjust and develop his game before seeing any real action.
Bilić has not played for team this season. Most recently, he suited up in three seasons (2022-25) for KK Cedevita Junior Zagreb in the Croatian Premier League. In 2024-25, he averaged 3.0 points and 1.5 rebounds in just over eight minutes per game. In 2024, Bilić also represented Croatia on its U20 EuroBasket team, starting all four games he played in, and he put up 5.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.
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