Connor Essegian Season 2024-25

SUMMER OF 2024
Essegian spent part of the summer of 2024 playing for the Armenian National Team, avraging 13.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game as Armenia won the LA International Cup Title. He tallied 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting along with six rebounds and three steals in the win over Ireland in the title game.
 
BEFORE NEBRASKA
Connor Essegian (pronounced eh-SEE-jin)s pent the first two seasons of his college career at Wisconsin before transferring to Nebraska in April of 2024. He played in 68 games in two seasons with the Badgers, helping Wisconsin make a pair of postseason appearances. 

Essegian played in 33 games for the Badgers in 2023-24, averaging 3.2 points per game, as Wisconsin went 22-14 and reached the NCAA Tournament. Essegian posted a pair of double-figure efforts, a season-high 15- point effort at Rutgers and 12 points, including a season-high four 3-pointers, in a win over the Huskers in Madison. 

Essegian was one of the best freshmen in the Big Ten in 2022-23, helping Wisconsin to 20 wins and an NIT semifinal appearance. He was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team as he played in all 35 games, including 19 starts, and averaged 11.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. He was third on the team in scoring and became just the fourth Wisconsin freshman in the last 25 years to average double figures. Essegian set a school record for a freshman with 69 3-pointers while he was 10th in the Big Ten in 3-pointers per game while shooting nearly 36 percent from beyond the arc.  He reached double figures 24 times, including a pair of 20-point efforts. Essegian had a career-high 24 points at Michigan after having 23 points, including 9-of-10 from the foul line, in the first matchup with the Wolverines. Essegian recorded his first career double-double at Indiana with 14 points and 11 rebounds and had 17 points against Kansas in the 2022 Battle 4 Atlantis as well as an 18-point effort, with four 3-pointers at Penn State.

Essegian was a prolific scorer during his career at Central Noble High School in Fort Wayne, totaling 2,526 points to finish 10th all-time in the state of Indiana. As a senior, he led Central Noble to the Class 2A state basketball title game, averaging 26.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, while shooting 43 percent from 3-point range. He was a finalist for Mr. Basketball and an all-state selection as Central Noble went 28-3 as a senior. His 2,526 points broke a school record which had stood for 44 years. During his junior season, he led the Cougars to a 20-1 season averaging 24.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.3 steals per game, while shooting better than 41 percent from 3-point range. That season featured a school-record 44 points during an 81-71 victory against Churubusco in the conference tournament quarterfinals. Essegian led Central Noble to its first NECC Tournament title in 50 years during his sophomore season, averaging 24.0 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game. His 648 points that season was the highest single-season scoring total in Noble county history. He played AAU basketball for Team Focus and Indiana Elite. In the classroom, Essegian finished seventh in his graduating class at Central Noble High School.

PERSONAL
The son of Jody and Rich Essegian, Connor was born on Dec. 12, 2003, in Fort Wayne, Ind. He has one younger brother (Sam). Connor is studying journalism at Nebraska with an emphasis on digital media. Essegian comes from an athletic family as his grandfather’s cousin was Chuck Essegian, who played baseball and football at Stanford before playing in the Major Leagues. Chuck Essegian was just the second player to play in both the Rose Bowl and the World Series. The cousin of Connor’s grandfather is Robin Yount, who is in the Baseball Hall of Fame after playing 20 years in the Major Leagues with the Milwaukee Brewers.