In a media session during Illinois’ NCAA Tournament appearance in Milwaukee, Illinois on SI got a chance to catch up with Illini sophomore center Tomislav Ivisic and ask about his twin brother, Zvonimir, a sophomore forward at Arkansas.

Before the season, Tomislav had talked about how he and Zvonimir had always done everything together – especially basketball – and the difficulty of the transition to college basketball and the brothers’ adjustment to taking separate paths. Asked in Milwaukee about someday playing together again, Tomislav said, “We could. We already have, but who knows?”

On Monday, “Who knows?” became “Why not?” when Zvonimir entered the transfer portal, per On3’s Joe Tipton.

What might have seemed a pipe dream a week ago is now a thought experiment worth having – one that Illinois coach Brad Underwood and his staff are almost certainly considering (if they hadn’t been already): Could the Illini reunite the Brothers Ivisic and field a starting lineup featuring literal twin towers next season?

The pieces fit. If Morez Johnson Jr. is indeed on his way out of Champaign (he entered the portal Friday), the Illini have a hole to fill in the frontcourt. Who could be more capable than Zvonimir?

Although his game and physical profile couldn’t be more different than those of the 6-foot-9 Johnson, the 7-foot-2 Zvonimir could step in, fill some of the rebounding and interior scoring responsibilities that belonged to Johnson. But he would also bring dimensions to the Illini offense that could make it one of the most dynamic in college basketball.

Like the 7-foot-1 Tomislav, Zvonimir is a quality three-point shooter and a deft passer – the type of player who fits Underwood’s offense to a T. Pairing the Ivisices on the floor together, though, could awaken a beast. The chemistry between the brothers – twins who played together for years – would be unrivaled, and in addition to some virtually unguardable pick-and-pop options, Illinois could roll out perhaps the most devastating high-low game in the country.

The Illini would be a bit slow afoot defensively in the frontcourt, but with two shot-blocking 7-footers on the floor at once (for roughly half the game, at least), opponents would find themselves turned away in the paint time and again.

Zvonimir, who averaged 8.5 points (including 47 threes on 37.6 percent shooting), 4.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks for the Razorbacks this season, hasn’t yet indicated any preferred landing spots. But one has to imagine Champaign is somewhere high on the list.

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PETERSBURG, Ill. (AP) — Before his famous debates, before the Civil War rent the nation, before he helped end slavery and before his tragic assassination, Abraham Lincoln had New Salem.

The tiny central Illinois village, where Lincoln accidentally spent half-a-dozen years in the 1830s, perhaps did as much to prepare him to be the Union-saving 16th president as any other aspect of his humble yet remarkable life.

Volunteers in period clothing provide historical demonstrations for hundreds of thousands of visitors each year at the site, now part of a state park over 200 miles (330 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. But long-neglected maintenance has taken a toll on the setting, which was re-created by a federal public works program in the 1930s during the Great Depression.

It took a dedicated volunteer and state lawmakers’ advocacy this spring to secure state money to begin rehabbing the site. Work has not yet been scheduled.

What is New Salem’s connection to Lincoln?

Lincoln, a clean-shaven 22-year-old with the barest of formal schooling, had set out in 1831 to haul freight down the Mississippi River to New Orleans when he snagged his flatboat on the Sangamon River dam at New Salem.

“That was destiny,” said Guy Fraker, a Bloomington, Illinois, lawyer and Lincoln biographer, “because if he hadn’t, I really firmly believe we’d be two countries.”

Lincoln freed the boat and continued to New Orleans, but returned to take up residence in the village just northwest of the capitol, Springfield.

In New Salem, Lincoln encountered the religious and the atheist, the learned and the illiterate. It’s where he ran a store into bankruptcy, went off to war, served as postmaster, was offered a job as surveyor and thus taught himself geometry and by association, logic, began practicing law and lost his first political race but came back to win.

“This is where he got all of the education necessary to run for office, so this is probably the most important historic site in the state of Illinois, and certainly one of the most important historic sites in the country,” state Sen. Steve McClure said.

What’s next for New Salem?

But some spots are off-limits. The drive shaft of the rebuilt gristmill fell out of the structure’s floor following a 2016 flood. It’s hard to get to it anyway because a pedestrian walkway over Illinois Route 97 is closed. A hole in the roof of the carding mill, used to straighten wool for spinning, grew this winter to the size of a refrigerator and half of the roof on the replicated Trent brothers’ barn has collapsed.

Gina Gillmore-Wolter, president of the New Salem Lincoln League, roused McClure and another central Illinois Republican, state Rep. Wayne Rosenthal, to introduce legislation to appropriate money for rehabilitation and create a commission to oversee New Salem conservation.

McClure has put the brakes on the legislation because 10 days after Gillmore-Wolter and the lawmakers led a media tour of the village, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, which oversees state historic sites, promised $8 million for repairs. It should be enough to stabilize structures and make some headway, but McClure said no one has inventoried problems or priced out remedies.

Natural Resources officials did not respond to emailed questions.

Why were improvements delayed?

New Salem withered shortly after Lincoln’s 1837 departure as residents picked up and moved when many transplanted their structures in the new county seat of Petersburg. Ironically, one of the best-preserved buildings is New Salem’s lone original: the Onstott Cooper Shop. Henry Onstott lent the auger Lincoln used to drain his swamped flatboat and ease it over the dam. The barrel-maker moved his shop to Petersburg in 1840, though it has since returned to its original spot.

By 1906, New Salem was a cow pasture with impressions marking erstwhile foundations. Media mogul and presidential hopeful William Randolph Hearst visited, then bought the property and donated it to the New Salem Chautauqua, an educational group.

It became a state park in 1918 and private donations paid for some reconstructed cabins, with many more added during the 1930s by the New Deal’s Civilian Conservation Corps.

Budget shortfalls have hampered maintenance. Financial troubles closed all state parks for five months in the late 2000s. Advocates believe New Salem hasn’t seen major improvements since the 1970s.

“This is Lincoln’s alma mater,” Gillmore-Wolter said. “This should be a priority.”