Wisconsin guard Connor Essegian planning to enter transfer portal

Wisconsin guard Connor Essegian plans to enter the transfer portal, he told On3.

The 6-foot-4 sophomore from Fort Wayne, Indiana had a strong freshman campaign for the Badgers, earning Big Ten All-Freshman honors after averaging 11.7 points and 3.7 rebounds in 27.4 minutes per game. His usage and minutes reduced significantly in year two in Madison, only playing an average of 7.3 minutes per game, putting up 3.2 points per outing.

“First off, I would like to say thank you Badger Nation for everything,” Essegian said in a statement to On3. “These last two years in Madison have been nothing short of amazing. This place has helped shape me into the person I am today. The city and university will forever have a special place in my heart. Thank you to the all of the fans and the community for your unconditional love and support. You took me in as your own and I am forever grateful for that.

“Thank you to my teammates who have become part of my forever family and for the relationships and memories we’ve created. Thank you to the coaching staff for giving me the opportunity to play at the highest level. Thank you to my friends and family for supporting me through this difficult process. But after further consideration, I will be entering my name into the transfer portal. Thank you Wisconsin.”

According to the On3 Industry Ranking, Essegian is a former three-star recruit and was the No. 235 overall player in the nation from the 2022 cycle. The On3 Industry Ranking is a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Connor Essegian looking for a new home, transfer portal background information

The NCAA Transfer Portal, which covers every NCAA sport at the Division I, II and III levels, is a private database with names of student-athletes who wish to transfer. It is not accessible to the public.

The process of entering the portal is done through a school’s compliance office. Once a player provides written notification of an intent to transfer, the office enters the player’s name in the database and everything is off and running. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and that request cannot be refused.

Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship no longer has to be honored. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.

The database is a normal database, sortable by a variety of topics, including (of course) sport and name. A player’s individual entry includes basic details such asynchronous contact info, whether the player was on scholarship and whether the player is transferring as a graduate student.

A player can ask that a “do not contact” tag be placed on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want to be contacted by schools unless they’ve initiated the communication.

Track transfer portal activity

While the NCAA Transfer Portal database is private, the On3 Network has streamlined the reporting process tracking player movement. If you find yourself asking, ‘How can I track transfer portal activity?’ our well-established network of reporters and contacts across college athletics keeps you up to speed in several ways, from articles written about players as they enter and exit the transfer portal or find their new destination, to our social media channels, to the On3 Transfer Portal.

The transfer portal wire provides a real-time feed of player activity, including basic player profile information, transfer portal ranking and original On3 Industry recruiting ranking, as well as NIL valuation (name, image and likeness).

The On3 Transfer Portal Rankings allow for you to filter the On3 Industry Rankings to find the best of the best in the portal, starting with Overall Top Players. 

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.