Donovan Clingan
As the Uconn men’s basketball team finds itself with a little bit of a break until facing Seton Hall on Saturday, let’s take a closer look at the Class of 2022 and Class of 2023 commits. Currently, Uconn has commitments from Class of 2022 recruits Donovan Clingan and Alex Karaban along with Class of 2023 recruit Stephon Castle.
Today we’ll focus on Connecticut’s own Donovan Clingan.
Recruit Information
Name: Donovan Clingan
School: Bristol Central
Class: 2022
Height: 7-1
Weight: 260
Stats: 27.3 points, 17.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 5.8 blocks in his 202021 season
Rankings: No. 50 in the Class of 2022 according to 247sports
Accolades: 2020 Connecticut Basketball Gatorade Player of the Year
Strengths
Great touch for a big man.
Soft hands with impressive moves in the post.
Tenacious rebounder who, if he can’t secure the ball, will tap out to teammates.
Great court vision and willing passer from anywhere on the court, which allows the offense to run through him.
Handles double teams well and will pass out to open shooters effectively.
Decisive, which helps limit mistakes.
Hard worker who has improved his game every season.
Shooting is steadily improving and can make the open jumper when required.
Motivated to improve on his weaknesses.
Weaknesses
Needs to get stronger.
Foot speed needs to improve on the defensive end.
Has a tendency to get frozen at times on the defensive end and let guys get by him.
Can get into foul trouble. Sometimes tries to chase blocks, which leads to bad defense.
Needs to improve endurance. Continue to improve overall athleticism.
NCAA player comparison
Shades of former Uconn center Travis Knight (build, touch around rim, rim protection)
Shades of former Duke Blue Devil Wendell Carter Jr. (rebounding, post game)
Shades of current Purdue Boilermaker Trevion Williams (post game, passing ability)
Summary
Clingan isn’t like your typical Uconn big that tends to be raw on the offensive end. He is very polished offensively. He possesses skills that can’t be taught. He has elite floor awareness to pass out of the post, which will make him a dangerous offensive talent in college. His biggest issues are those that Uconn coach Dan Hurley will focus on, which will be making sure he moves his feet quicker on defense and puts on some more muscle. Uconn might have to change its style of a play a bit to adjust to Clingan’s game. Overall, he has the potential to be a special talent.