MADISON, Wis. – From a young age, Connor Essegian wanted to be known as a shooter.
Whether it be a spot-up jump shot, a drive to the rim, or a step back from the perimeter, Essegian felt he had developed the confidence to turn any shot like someone throwing a beach ball into the ocean.
But when it came to stepping in front of a defender to take a charge or fight through a screen to contest a shot, well, Essegian wasn’t as eager.
“It wasn’t necessarily the strongest part of my game,” Essegian laughed. “It wasn’t something I had taken to heart. I wanted to be a scorer.”
Scoring can get Essegian time on the court this season for Wisconsin, which has plenty of minutes and offense it needs to replace at the guard position from last year’s Big Ten championship team, but knows lapses defensively will make his stints on the course short-lived.
That’s why Essegian has done his best to immerse himself in Wisconsin’s team-centric defensive principles since the time he arrived over the summer. The steps have been small and continue to be mistake-filled, but the 6-4 guard is showing enough improvement that he could be a key weapon of the Badgers’ bench.
“He was physical in the first game, and that’s what we needed from him,” point guard Chucky Hepburn said of Essegian, who has six points (2-for-3 3FG), one rebound, and one steal in Monday’s opening win over South Dakota. “I think it gave him a little confidence. This one play he got a rebound, and he hasn’t done that really at all in practice. I was happy to see that from him. He’s physical, on the ground a little bit, tumbling with the five. I love to see that from him.”
Few in the state of Indiana high school basketball have scored more than Essegian, the guard from Fort Wayne who left high school ranked 10th on the state’s all-time scoring list with 2,526 points. At Central Noble High School, he broke a school scoring record that stood for 44 years. Yet, as an elite-level scorer, the only Power-Five offers came from Minnesota and Wake Forest.
Wisconsin assistant coach Dean Oliver spent plenty of time watching and evaluating Essegian, the only member of the Badgers’ 2022 recruiting class. While it’s tough to gauge defense in high school, especially when it comes to the track meets known as AAU summer tournaments, Oliver knew that Essegian was rough around the edges but not unfixable.
“There were no questions that there were issues and concerns,” Oliver said. “But the thing that was consistent with him was he always played hard, and he was competing.”
“The shooting stands out, but he cuts really well and draws defenders on the offensive end. Defensively, he’s got to take some of that offensive mentality to the defensive side. I think he can help us there, too, knowing where shooters want to go and where guys want to be. It might end up in the right place getting steals that way.”
Essegian admits his shot was “pretty ugly” when he first picked up a basketball, something he corrected with thousands of shots in constant repetition.
“I just worked for it every day,” he said. “I love getting into the gym and shooting the ball. I could sit there for hours doing it.”
He’s attempting to replicate that improvement by applying it to his defense. Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard admitted that the freshman’s head was spinning during UW’s exhibition trip to France over the summer and again in the closed scrimmage against Northern Iowa last month.
In Monday’s opener, Essegian got too close to a shooter and fouled him on a perimeter attempt that led to three free throws. On the next trip down the floor, Essegian helped erase the mistake by hitting a three-point shot of his own.
“There’s been a lot of ups and downs when it comes to the defensive side of the ball,” Essegian said. “The guys on this team are great players, so it’s a really good opportunity to go against them every day and continue to work on what they’re telling me to work on. There’s been a lot of good strides, I think, recently with my mentality, mindset, and physicality.”
The work Essegian has put into his game has transitioned to other parts of his offense. In addition to seeing Essegian's defense grow in the summer, Gard saw him improve decision-making with the ball in his hands, be willing to into the paint for offensive rebound opportunities and use his athleticism as a weapon to stretch defenses.
“He’s a better athlete than what maybe at your first glance think,” Gard said. “He gets the perception that he’s just a catch-and-shoot guy, that he’s a catch-and-shoot guy because he can’t do a, b, or c … He’s not a completely complete player yet, but he’s much more complete than what I gave him credit for when we recruited him. I didn’t see him do as many things as what I’ve seen him do here over the last three, four months.”
An example comes from the second half against the Coyotes. Getting a dribble handoff from forward Tyler Wahl on the perimeter, and promptly having him set a screen for the freshman, Essegian drew both defenders and recognized the opening, delivering a bounce pass between the defenders to the cutting Wahl for a one-handed dunk.
It’s an example of recognizing little things to make winning plays, something Wisconsin hopes Essegian can do for them as a weapon off the bench.
“He’s sneaky athlete,” Gard said. “He’s got a great feel for the game. He understands it. I was excited to see his reaction at the play because he celebrated with Tyler going down the floor. He was excited about that as he was knocking down the three. He still has a long way to go. His strength will help him immensely over the next year, but his feel for the game offensively is really good. There’s a lot of things (there) you can’t teach kids his age."
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