Despite a record-setting run in high school, Essegian was ranked No. 225 nationally and No. 10 among Indiana recruits in Indiana. He committed to Wisconsin and had high-major offers from Wake Forest, Butler, Creighton and Minnesota, but Indiana did not offer him out of high school.
Essegian’s college career started strong as he earned a spot on the Big Ten All-Freshman team. He started 19 games and played 27.4 minutes per game in 35 total appearances for Wisconsin in 2022-23.
As a freshman, he was Wisconsin’s third-leading scorer at 11.7 points per game while shooting 35.9% from 3-point range and 88.4% from the free throw line. His 69 3-pointers set a Wisconsin freshman record.
Heading into Essegian’s sophomore season in 2023-24, Wisconsin returned a veteran roster and added transfer guard AJ Storr and freshman guard John Blackwell. Essegian still played in 33 games, but his minutes fell from 27.4 as a freshman to just 7.3 per game as a sophomore.
He finished the year averaging 3.2 points per game and shooting 30.3% from 3-point range. While Essegian proved to be dynamic scorer as just a freshman at the Big Ten level, he lost minutes after suffering a back injury in the season opener, as well as his defensive deficiencies and other guards joining Wisconsin last season.
“We can’t afford to let him play through it,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said of Essegian. “The stakes are too high in terms of what this team wants to accomplish.”
Now, after two seasons with the Badgers, Essegian has entered the transfer portal with two years of eligibility left. He’s already visited Maryland and South Carolina, and Indiana is next on Wednesday.
Heading into his fourth season as Indiana’s coach, Mike Woodson has added three players to the 2024-25 roster so far this offseason. It started with landing five-star freshman Bryson Tucker, followed by Washington State transfer guard Myles Rice and Arizona transfer center Oumar Ballo. Woodson still has four open scholarships, and Essegian would help fill Indiana’s 3-point shooting needs.
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