Photo by: Meg Kelly
Lucas: Essegian embracing journey of past year
March 26, 2023 | Men's Basketball, Mike Lucas
Plenty can change in one year's time, just ask freshman guard
BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. – The significance of the day was not lost on Connor Essegian. But the anniversary date was. He was reminded, much to his surprise, that it was a year ago Sunday that his Central Noble High School team made its first appearance ever in the Indiana Class 2A state finals.
Does it seem longer? "It kind of does,'' he said. "But, at the same time, it doesn't.''
Letting it all sink in, the 19-year-old Wisconsin freshman guard paused before continuing.
"Time has been going by so fast – I feel like I've been here my whole life, too,'' said Essegian, the Fort Wayne, Indiana native with the CE3 brand. "All the memories fill my brain so much just thinking about it now that it has been a year. It's crazy how much has happened between now and then.''
Back then, March 26, 2022, Providence jumped out to a 25-9 first quarter lead and cruised to a 62-49 victory over Central Noble in the state championship game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. "I don't think I've ever seen a team shoot so well,'' Essegian lamented. "That was unreal.''
What was real was the experience – the town of Albion rallying around its team, the Cougars.
"It was kind of cool when it was going on to see how the community rolled with us,'' Essegian recalled fondly. "With that being our first time (in the finals), I mean, everyone was there. The whole town of a couple of thousand people was there. It was so cool to soak in the experience.''
If you've seen the movie "Hoosiers'' you have an appreciation for the magnitude of the event.
If not, take his word, "I feel like it's one of the biggest high school experiences you can have.''
The previous week, Central Noble upended Carroll (Flora), 54-48, behind Essegian's 25 points and 10 rebounds. In the process, Essegian, who was averaging 26.8, became the 10th leading all-time scorer in state history. He had 18 more in the Providence loss to finish with 2,526 career points.
Although his team came up short at state, Essegian still cherishes the runner-up medal.
"I'll never, never let that go … we got a ring, too,'' he said proudly. "I left them at home. I didn't trust myself with them here. It's something that means a lot to me …the amount of work I put in to help our team to get there … to help my teammates … guys that I love and I'm still super close with.
"Some of my best friends were on that team and it's something I will cherish for the rest of my life being able to experience that with them … I stay in touch with them all the time. A couple of them will be coming up here to visit me once the season is done, the weekend after we get back from Vegas.''
First things first. The Badgers and Essegian are focusing on taking care of business against the University of North Texas in Tuesday's semifinals of the NIT at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The Mean Green upset Purdue, the last Big Ten team they faced, in the first round of the 2021 NCAA tournament.
North Texas, which leads the nation in scoring defense (55.7), wound up second in Conference USA behind Florida Atlantic, the NCAA Final Four-bound Owls. FAU captured the regular season and conference tournament championships and beat North Texas twice in nailbiters, two possession games.
On Dec. 29 in Denton, Texas, the Mean Green led FAU by nine with 5:24 remaining before the Owls closed out a 50-46 win with a 13-0 run. On Jan. 14 in Boca Raton, Fla., Tylor Perry missed a 3-pointer that would have given North Texas the lead with nine seconds left. Instead, they fell, 66-62.
The 5-11 Perry, a senior guard, was Conference USA's Player of the Year. Besides averaging a team-high 17.3 points – built around his 3-point efficiency (106-253, .419) – Perry has the clutch gene. In the last 15 games, he's shooting 62% from the floor over the final five minutes and/or overtimes.
Not unlike Liberty's Darius McGhee, who scored 31 in a second round NIT loss to the Badgers, Perry has unlimited range. On his deep 3's – 27 feet or longer – he's converting 37 percent. Including his two seasons at Coffeyville Community College, he has well over 300 career triples as a collegian.
Of late, Essegian has been struggling to find a rhythm from beyond the 3-point arc. Despite being one of only five UW freshmen to average double-figures the last 25 years – joining Ethan Happ, Devin Harris, Brad Davison and Alando Tucker – he has shown understandable signs of battle-fatigue.
"I'm a little worn down, that's just how it is every year,'' said Essegian who admitted in the same breath that after playing in all 34 games with 18 starts, "I've actually gained weight, a lot of weight. I weighed in today at 195. I might not look like it … at all. But I was just over 180 (when he got here).''
Still, it has been a physical grind. Especially with the attention he has commanded. "I'm a little tired, a little sore,'' he conceded. "Everyone who has played basketball knows how it is at the end of the season. You've just got to fight through it to continue to keep playing. It's a mental game at this point.''
From that standpoint, the 6-4 Essegian added, "Mentally, I'm still pretty good. I'm still not shooting the way I would like to. But you have to have that mentality to keep moving forward … to the next shot. I just want to win. Especially knowing if we lose, we'll be home.''
During NIT games, Essegian has made just 2-of-13 3-pointers. Overall, he's 3 of his last 20.
"For me, I've gone back and looked at some videos of me shooting,'' said Essegian who owns the school record for most triples (67) in a season by a freshman. "It's different each shot. I just need to get more consistent with the smaller, little things. A lot of it is just my positioning with my hand on the ball.
"Mostly, I'm finding it to be a small change with my thumb causing it to spin or something to be different. It has happened to me before in high school for sure.'' And it came down, he said to "just figuring it out … working and getting in the gym … getting shots up and eventually getting through it.
"I can feel it coming. I'm going to be getting out of it here pretty soon.''
Essegian has gotten strong family support from his mom and dad, Jody and Rich, and from his younger brother by two years, Sam, a junior at Central Noble. Sam Essegian has begun to carve out his own identity as a high school scorer. In late February, he had 23 points in a 62-36 victory over Fairfield.
"My brother loves to analyze, loves statistics,'' Connor Essegian said. "He'll probably be a coach at some point. He breaks down movements and reads and all that stuff. It really is helpful. He sees the game different than most people see it. He's just able to see it deeper …''
It was relatively easy to see that the length and wing span of Oregon's 6-9 Lok Wur impacted Essegian. "It was definitely different, it was an adjustment,'' he said. "Even on the first play of the game, he got a deflection on me and I ended up turning it over. It was a challenge, I'm not going to lie.''
More often than not, opposing defenses have targeted Essegian. A sign of respect.
"That has a lot to do with how teams learn your game and they make it a lot more difficult to get the same looks that you were getting earlier in the season,'' said UW assistant Dean Oliver. "But with the great players, they all adapt. That's the one thing we've been trying to help Connor with.
"Finding better shots. Finding different shots where you can get your space and get your shot. The little veteran tricks to get yourself open. That comes with screening. That comes with different cuts that you make to get another guy open and then that opens up things for yourself.
"He's learning all the tricks of the trade.''
It's something that the 5-11 Oliver encountered as a freshman starter at Iowa (1997-98).
"When you get this far into the year, you kind of turn into a sophomore and you know what you need to work on,'' Oliver said. "But it's a grind. In your freshman year, you kind of hit a wall at some point and realize, 'Hey, this is more physically taxing, more mentally taxing than I expected.'
"The only way to go through it is to experience it. At some point, you get a second wind.''
Asked if he still felt like a freshman, Essegian said, "Honestly, I don't. I feel at this point that I'm starting to adjust to the game pretty well. I know I've been in a little (offensive) struggle recently. But I feel like the game is not moving as fast as it was earlier in the year.''
In this context, Essegian is conscious of his on-court body language. "I feel a lot of guys look up to me to knock down a shot every once in awhile,'' he said. "I have to keep that mindset that the next one is going in and make sure they know I'm still confident, too. I feel like they build off that.''
Believe in yourself. Others will believe in you. "It's a snowball effect,'' Essegian said.
Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard has recognized the growing pains.
"It's baptism by fire,'' said Gard, echoing Oliver sentiments. "There's only one way to get better – you have to go through it. We can talk about it. We can show it on film. But the experience that he's getting is invaluable. He's got a lot of things he needs to get better at.''
(Essegian has been a work in progress on the defensive end of the floor.)
"But he's very coachable and very confident, which is what you like,'' Gard stressed. "You have to have that confidence when you step between the lines. But you also have understand that when you step off the court, there are a lot of areas where you can grow.''
At Oregon, Essegian was guilty of a late turnover. And Gard let him hear about it. "As he should have,'' Essegian said. "It was a pretty big mistake that I definitely learned from. There's storage in my head to remember those situations. It's all part of growing, an opportunity to learn and get better …''
That applies to everything that he does. Possession by possession. Game by game. Essegian is looking for that second wind. And an NIT crown. "I know this is not where we wanted to be, at all,'' he said. "But we have to make the most of the opportunities that we do have … to step on the court again.
"I'm excited to have a chance to win a championship with the guys.''
Essegian has played in Las Vegas once before. Before the start of his senior year at Central Noble, he was on the Indiana Elite team that competed there in an AAU tournament. He was sketchy on details. Except for one. "We did win it,'' he said, savoring the thought of hunting another title this week.
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. – The significance of the day was not lost on Connor Essegian. But the anniversary date was. He was reminded, much to his surprise, that it was a year ago Sunday that his Central Noble High School team made its first appearance ever in the Indiana Class 2A state finals.
Does it seem longer? "It kind of does,'' he said. "But, at the same time, it doesn't.''
Letting it all sink in, the 19-year-old Wisconsin freshman guard paused before continuing.
"Time has been going by so fast – I feel like I've been here my whole life, too,'' said Essegian, the Fort Wayne, Indiana native with the CE3 brand. "All the memories fill my brain so much just thinking about it now that it has been a year. It's crazy how much has happened between now and then.''
Back then, March 26, 2022, Providence jumped out to a 25-9 first quarter lead and cruised to a 62-49 victory over Central Noble in the state championship game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. "I don't think I've ever seen a team shoot so well,'' Essegian lamented. "That was unreal.''
What was real was the experience – the town of Albion rallying around its team, the Cougars.
"It was kind of cool when it was going on to see how the community rolled with us,'' Essegian recalled fondly. "With that being our first time (in the finals), I mean, everyone was there. The whole town of a couple of thousand people was there. It was so cool to soak in the experience.''
If you've seen the movie "Hoosiers'' you have an appreciation for the magnitude of the event.
If not, take his word, "I feel like it's one of the biggest high school experiences you can have.''
The previous week, Central Noble upended Carroll (Flora), 54-48, behind Essegian's 25 points and 10 rebounds. In the process, Essegian, who was averaging 26.8, became the 10th leading all-time scorer in state history. He had 18 more in the Providence loss to finish with 2,526 career points.
Although his team came up short at state, Essegian still cherishes the runner-up medal.
"I'll never, never let that go … we got a ring, too,'' he said proudly. "I left them at home. I didn't trust myself with them here. It's something that means a lot to me …the amount of work I put in to help our team to get there … to help my teammates … guys that I love and I'm still super close with.
"Some of my best friends were on that team and it's something I will cherish for the rest of my life being able to experience that with them … I stay in touch with them all the time. A couple of them will be coming up here to visit me once the season is done, the weekend after we get back from Vegas.''
First things first. The Badgers and Essegian are focusing on taking care of business against the University of North Texas in Tuesday's semifinals of the NIT at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The Mean Green upset Purdue, the last Big Ten team they faced, in the first round of the 2021 NCAA tournament.
North Texas, which leads the nation in scoring defense (55.7), wound up second in Conference USA behind Florida Atlantic, the NCAA Final Four-bound Owls. FAU captured the regular season and conference tournament championships and beat North Texas twice in nailbiters, two possession games.
On Dec. 29 in Denton, Texas, the Mean Green led FAU by nine with 5:24 remaining before the Owls closed out a 50-46 win with a 13-0 run. On Jan. 14 in Boca Raton, Fla., Tylor Perry missed a 3-pointer that would have given North Texas the lead with nine seconds left. Instead, they fell, 66-62.
The 5-11 Perry, a senior guard, was Conference USA's Player of the Year. Besides averaging a team-high 17.3 points – built around his 3-point efficiency (106-253, .419) – Perry has the clutch gene. In the last 15 games, he's shooting 62% from the floor over the final five minutes and/or overtimes.
Not unlike Liberty's Darius McGhee, who scored 31 in a second round NIT loss to the Badgers, Perry has unlimited range. On his deep 3's – 27 feet or longer – he's converting 37 percent. Including his two seasons at Coffeyville Community College, he has well over 300 career triples as a collegian.
Of late, Essegian has been struggling to find a rhythm from beyond the 3-point arc. Despite being one of only five UW freshmen to average double-figures the last 25 years – joining Ethan Happ, Devin Harris, Brad Davison and Alando Tucker – he has shown understandable signs of battle-fatigue.
"I'm a little worn down, that's just how it is every year,'' said Essegian who admitted in the same breath that after playing in all 34 games with 18 starts, "I've actually gained weight, a lot of weight. I weighed in today at 195. I might not look like it … at all. But I was just over 180 (when he got here).''
Still, it has been a physical grind. Especially with the attention he has commanded. "I'm a little tired, a little sore,'' he conceded. "Everyone who has played basketball knows how it is at the end of the season. You've just got to fight through it to continue to keep playing. It's a mental game at this point.''
From that standpoint, the 6-4 Essegian added, "Mentally, I'm still pretty good. I'm still not shooting the way I would like to. But you have to have that mentality to keep moving forward … to the next shot. I just want to win. Especially knowing if we lose, we'll be home.''
During NIT games, Essegian has made just 2-of-13 3-pointers. Overall, he's 3 of his last 20.
"For me, I've gone back and looked at some videos of me shooting,'' said Essegian who owns the school record for most triples (67) in a season by a freshman. "It's different each shot. I just need to get more consistent with the smaller, little things. A lot of it is just my positioning with my hand on the ball.
"Mostly, I'm finding it to be a small change with my thumb causing it to spin or something to be different. It has happened to me before in high school for sure.'' And it came down, he said to "just figuring it out … working and getting in the gym … getting shots up and eventually getting through it.
"I can feel it coming. I'm going to be getting out of it here pretty soon.''
Essegian has gotten strong family support from his mom and dad, Jody and Rich, and from his younger brother by two years, Sam, a junior at Central Noble. Sam Essegian has begun to carve out his own identity as a high school scorer. In late February, he had 23 points in a 62-36 victory over Fairfield.
"My brother loves to analyze, loves statistics,'' Connor Essegian said. "He'll probably be a coach at some point. He breaks down movements and reads and all that stuff. It really is helpful. He sees the game different than most people see it. He's just able to see it deeper …''
It was relatively easy to see that the length and wing span of Oregon's 6-9 Lok Wur impacted Essegian. "It was definitely different, it was an adjustment,'' he said. "Even on the first play of the game, he got a deflection on me and I ended up turning it over. It was a challenge, I'm not going to lie.''
More often than not, opposing defenses have targeted Essegian. A sign of respect.
"That has a lot to do with how teams learn your game and they make it a lot more difficult to get the same looks that you were getting earlier in the season,'' said UW assistant Dean Oliver. "But with the great players, they all adapt. That's the one thing we've been trying to help Connor with.
"Finding better shots. Finding different shots where you can get your space and get your shot. The little veteran tricks to get yourself open. That comes with screening. That comes with different cuts that you make to get another guy open and then that opens up things for yourself.
"He's learning all the tricks of the trade.''
It's something that the 5-11 Oliver encountered as a freshman starter at Iowa (1997-98).
"When you get this far into the year, you kind of turn into a sophomore and you know what you need to work on,'' Oliver said. "But it's a grind. In your freshman year, you kind of hit a wall at some point and realize, 'Hey, this is more physically taxing, more mentally taxing than I expected.'
"The only way to go through it is to experience it. At some point, you get a second wind.''
Asked if he still felt like a freshman, Essegian said, "Honestly, I don't. I feel at this point that I'm starting to adjust to the game pretty well. I know I've been in a little (offensive) struggle recently. But I feel like the game is not moving as fast as it was earlier in the year.''
In this context, Essegian is conscious of his on-court body language. "I feel a lot of guys look up to me to knock down a shot every once in awhile,'' he said. "I have to keep that mindset that the next one is going in and make sure they know I'm still confident, too. I feel like they build off that.''
Believe in yourself. Others will believe in you. "It's a snowball effect,'' Essegian said.
Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard has recognized the growing pains.
"It's baptism by fire,'' said Gard, echoing Oliver sentiments. "There's only one way to get better – you have to go through it. We can talk about it. We can show it on film. But the experience that he's getting is invaluable. He's got a lot of things he needs to get better at.''
(Essegian has been a work in progress on the defensive end of the floor.)
"But he's very coachable and very confident, which is what you like,'' Gard stressed. "You have to have that confidence when you step between the lines. But you also have understand that when you step off the court, there are a lot of areas where you can grow.''
At Oregon, Essegian was guilty of a late turnover. And Gard let him hear about it. "As he should have,'' Essegian said. "It was a pretty big mistake that I definitely learned from. There's storage in my head to remember those situations. It's all part of growing, an opportunity to learn and get better …''
That applies to everything that he does. Possession by possession. Game by game. Essegian is looking for that second wind. And an NIT crown. "I know this is not where we wanted to be, at all,'' he said. "But we have to make the most of the opportunities that we do have … to step on the court again.
"I'm excited to have a chance to win a championship with the guys.''
Essegian has played in Las Vegas once before. Before the start of his senior year at Central Noble, he was on the Indiana Elite team that competed there in an AAU tournament. He was sketchy on details. Except for one. "We did win it,'' he said, savoring the thought of hunting another title this week.
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