Nebraska landed its fourth transfer of the offseason today in former Wisconsin guard Connor Essegian.
Essegian, a 6-foot-4, 195-pounder with two years of eligibility remaining, spent the past two seasons with the Badgers. He announced his decision on social media.
A three-star recruit in the 2022 class out of Fort Wayne, Ind., Essegian played in 68 games with 13 starts during his career at Wisconsin.
After entering the portal on March 24, it was reported Essegian also visited Maryland and Indiana. Essegian reportedly visited Nebraska on Thursday, April 18.
Essegian played in all 35 games as a true freshman during the 2022-23 campaign and started 13 games. That year he averaged 11.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game while shooting 40.4% from the field, 35.9% from 3-point range (69-of-192) and 88.4% from the free-throw line (76-of-86). He earned an Big Ten All-Freshman Team honor.
This past season Essegian dealt with a back injury suffered in the season-opener against Arkansas State and wasn't the same since. He ultimately fell out of the core rotation, playing in 33 games on the season with no starts while averaging 7.3 minutes per game.
Essegian averaged 3.2 points on the season while then transfer addition AJ Storr started and freshman guard John Blackwell was the top option off the bench, averaging 18.5 minutes. In limited action as a sophomore, Essegian shot 38.5% from the field, 30.3% from 3 and 90.9% from the free-throw line.
The Badgers' Jan. 6 win at home against Nebraska was one of Essegian's best outings of his sophomore season. He came off the bench to score 12 points in 12 minutes and connected on four of his seven attempts from 3.
Later in the season, in a win over Rutgers in February, Essegian scored a season-high 15 points and went 3-of-8 from 3.
Essegian joins North Dakota State forward Andrew Morgan, Utah/Utah State guard Rollie Worster and Rutgers guard/forward Gavin Griffiths as transfer additions to Fred Hoiberg's program.
Nebraska returns two core pieces to its roster next season in guard Brice Williams and forward Juwan Gary, who will both be in their sixth years. Forward Rienk Mast could be a third, but hasn't yet announced if he'll return to the program for his sixth and final season or play professionally overseas.
The Huskers also return veteran point guard Ahron Ulis, who joined the team from Iowa last offseason but wasn't eligible to play due to his involvement in the Iowa gambling scandal.
Nebraska currently has three scholarships remaining to fill out the rest of the 2024-25 roster.
