Sports: Wisconsin Basketball: Essegian Selected To Train And Play With Armenian National Team

Connor Essegian is already a very good player for the Wisconsin Badgers. He had a fantastic freshman season. There is no doubt he is on the verge of a breakout sophomore season after averaging 11,7 points a game as a freshman and earning Big Ten All Freshman honor.. It’s becoming clear his play is being noticed as well. It was announced this afternoon from the Wisconsin Basketball Twitter page that Connor Essegian has been selected to train and play for the Armenian National team.

In a statement from the UW Athletics page:

“Essegian will be making his debut for Armenia in the “Armenian Basketball Classic,” an event that will take place June 16-17 and have Armenia facing France – ranked No. 5 globally – in back-to-back games. Both games will be played in California at Premier America Credit Union Arena on the campus of California State University, Northridge. It will mark the first-ever Armenian basketball games to be played in the United States.”

The release also mentions that Essegian’s father is 50% Armenian and his grandfather is 100% Armenian. Essegian also made the following remarks in the press release:

“I’m really excited to have the opportunity to play the game that I love, while also representing Armenia and my family in the process,” Essegian said. “My father’s side is Armenian and I believe one of my relatives, Chuck Essegian, was the first Armenian player in Major League Baseball, so I’m excited to add to that history through the game of basketball. I’m also excited to represent Wisconsin on an international level of competition. I plan to use this opportunity to challenge myself against professional-level players, while also better preparing for this upcoming season.”

The following remarks also came from Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard:

“Any time one of our athletes gets to play on an international stage and represent their heritage it is an awesome opportunity,” Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard said. “We’ve had several players over the years use this experience as a springboard into the next season, and I know that Connor will go in with his eyes and ears wide open to squeeze everything out of this opportunity that he can. I’m excited to follow him as he competes.”