Keisei Tominaga’s departure left a significant void in the Nebraska men’s basketball program, in more ways than one.
Aside from his infectious energy on the court and popularity with fans within the fan base and beyond, Tominaga also led the huskers with 15.7 points per game and was sixth in the Big Ten in 3-pointers made, sinking 76 of them at a 37.6% clip.
Brice Williams’ return (50 3-pointers made, 38.8%) helps to soften that blow, but Nebraska also lost C.J. Wilcher (50 3-pointers made, 39.4%), Jamarques Lawrence (36, 35.6%) and Eli Rice (10, 37%) to the transfer portal. Adding perimeter shooting was a priority for the Nebraska men’s basketball coaching staff during the offseason, and Fred Hoiberg said at Big Ten Media Days that he thought the Huskers landed two of the best in Connor Essegian and Gavin Griffiths.
“Connor will be a very important piece for us, especially with what we lost not only with Keisei but a couple of the players we lost to the portal that put the ball in the basket for us, especially from behind the arc,” Hoiberg said. “Getting players that could knock down shots and space the floor was a big objective for us in the poral. With Connor and with Gavin Griffiths, you get two guys who have played in the league that can really get it going from the outside.”
Essegian, a 6-foot-4 guard from Indiana, spent his first two seasons at Wisconsin. He made the Big Ten All-Freshman team after averaging 11.7 points and shooting 35.9% from 3, setting a freshman school record with 69 made 3-pointers. Essegian saw his playing time cut by 20 minutes per game as a sophomore as he struggled to crack the lineup following a back injury he suffered in the season-opener that impacted him throughout the Badgers’ nonconference slate. He averaged 3.2 points and shot 30.3% from 3 in 7.3 minutes per game, logging just nine games with double-digit minutes all season.
Essegian opted to enter the transfer portal in the spring and chose to continue his career in Hoiberg’s shooter-friendly offense.
“Connor, he’s got such a level approach to everything, and I’ve been really impressed with that,” Hoiberg said. “He’s picked things up defensively. He played for a great program and Greg Gard obviously demands a lot on that end. When you get guys from programs like that, they pick things up quicker. He’s done a nice job on the defensive end as well. It’s a very different style than Wisconsin and he’s picked things up very quickly. I’ve loved what Connor’s brought to us. He’s a great locker room guy, another guy that can give us leadership out there, and he’s played in the league and he knows what it’s all about.”
Essegian logged 24 double-digit scoring games as a freshman including nine games with three or more 3-pointers, and Nebraska is hoping to see him return to that level of performance with a fresh start.
Griffiths also transferred from another Big Ten school as he spent his freshman year at Rutgers. The Connecticut native was a consensus four-star recruit ranked in the top 50 by On3, ESPN and Rivals. He played 20 games at Rutgers, averaging 5.8 points per game. Griffiths shot 28.2% from 3 overall, but that included a 37.5% mark (12-of-32) over his last six games. The 6-foot-7 wing scored 16 points and shot 4-of-8 from 3 in two games against the Huskers last season.
“He’s going to be on the court for us,” Hoiberg said. “He’ll have days where he’ll run off four, five, six 3s in a row, and making contested ones as well. Shot selection is something that I’ve talked with him a lot about, taking the right shots. Early on last year he took some really, really tough ones, but then at the end of the year he figured it out and shot almost 40% the last month of the season. So having success playing against teams in this league, I think he’s primed for a really nice year.”
While shooting has been Griffiths’ calling card thus far (he attempted more than twice as many shots from beyond the 3-point line than at the rim as a freshman), Hoiberg said there’s far more than meets the eye with him.
“The thing I’ve been really pleasantly impressed by with Gavin, I knew he could shoot — he did it against us in PBA last year; he hit one from the logo — but his athleticism has been off the charts,” Hoiberg said. “He finishes above the rim. He’s not going to back down from anybody. He’s an unbelievable worker; he’s in the gym nonstop. Just a lot, a lot of raw talent and ability. He’s still young, he’s a true sophomore, but he learned from a great guy in Steve Piekell. You get some of those early learning curve situations out of the way when you play for another great coach and we’re just trying to do the best we can to put him in a position for success based on his unique skill set. We love Gavin.”
Williams has also impressed his teammates during the offseason workouts and early preseason practices.
“Gavin’s a grasshopper,” Williams said. “Gavin is stronger than what you would think. Gavin is a better shooter than what you would think. Gavin can go on a heater and hit five in a row, but Gavin can also put his head at the rim easily. He’s the only one at the end of the week that still looks like he’s fresh.”
At a listed 193 pounds, Griffiths is the fourth-lightest player on the Nebraska roster, and the three players lighter than him are all 6-foot-4 and under guards. Continuing to add strength to his frame will be a key for Griffiths moving forward, but Hoiberg cautioned against judging a book by its cover in this case.
“He’s working extra in the weight room,” Hoiberg said. “Some guys come back and work on their game and shot, which he certainly does that, but he also puts in extra time in the weight room with our strength coach. So he’s made really good gains in the weight room. I don’t think he’ll ever be Arnold, but he’s wiry strong. I played with maybe the best wiry strong guy of all time, Reggie Miller. He could lift a lot of weight but he never put on size. Gavin’s a strong kid, but it’s not going to show up in his body. It shows up in his athleticism and he’s going to put the work in, there’s no doubt about that.”
With a fresh start in a shooter-friendly system, Essegian and Griffiths are looking to live up to their potential as Cornhuskers. Nebraska led the Big Ten in 3-pointers in 2023-24, and the two transfers will play a significant part if the Huskers are to repeat that feat this season.
