NORFOLK, Va. The last five-plus weeks have been quite the journey for Old Dominion point guard Imo Essien, going from a scary on-court collapse to some of the biggest shots of his young career.
"Having that incident happen, your mind goes everywhere," the sophomore guard said on Tuesday. "To be back between these lines, to be back with that ball in my hand, I will never take it for granted. I love this game."
Essien collapsed on Jan. 7 during the first half of Old Dominion's overtime win at Georgia Southern. He would miss the Monarchs' next four games. The guard said on Tuesday that he believes his shortness of breath that led to his collapse was the result of an illness he had been battling during that week, as well as dehydration. A barrage of tests have all come back negative and encouraging.
Fast forward, and Essien has had the ball in his hands during some of the most crucial moments of recent contests. Thursday's win over Georgia State saw him knock down a fadeaway jumper with seven seconds left to put the silver and blue up three, the final bucket in a 63-60 victory. He followed that up with even greater heroics on Saturday. With ODU and Texas State tied at 68 in the final seconds, Essien drove the ball down the court, into the lane and bounced in the game-winning lay-up as the buzzer sounded.
"I don't shoot shots unless I think I'm going to make them," he noted. "Confidence has always been something that kind of... you've got to have it to play this game. You can't walk out there timid."
"I think it's just a matter of a competitive guy taking advantage of the opportunities that are there," Monarchs' head coach Jeff Jones added. "I think he's growing up. There's still a ways to go, but I think he's also a much more confident player right now than he ever was last year."
Essien said he's hit game-winning shots before in high school but has never connected on one that beat the buzzer to push his team to victory. It was a moment he called "poetry," as the Wylie, Texas, native made the shot in front of family and friends who had come to watch him play in his home state.
"Teammates, they know we're back in Texas. They know I'm the guy from Texas," Essien smiled. "To have that type of shot go in, have them trust me to be able to put myself in position to make that shot, it means the world."
The sophomore has been tossed into a much greater role this season than he saw a year ago. Essien ranks fourth on the team in minutes with 28.0 per game, up from 7.1 minutes per outing as a freshman. He's posting 5.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists per contest this season, well above last year's pace.
"It's not about him being faster or considerably stronger," Jones pointed out. "I do think, from a skills perspective, he's improved his shot, but it's about experiences. It's about learning and being a smarter basketball player for him and that's why you've been able to see the improvement."
Old Dominion has improved considerably from last year as a whole. Coming off a 13-19 campaign, the Monarchs enter the week 16-10, 8-6 in Sun Belt Conference play, and have won four straight games away from Chartway Arena. They'll look to keep it going on Thursday when they tip off at James Madison.
