The News-Times

Clingan tour starts at Mohegan Sun, where he hopes it ends in March

- Jeff.jacobs @hearstmedi­act.com; @jeffjacobs­123

UNCASVILLE — Tim Barrette and Donovan Clingan made a pact.

“Donovan made a promise to me and he was loyal to me,” the Bristol Central coach said Monday night after his No. 1 team overwhelme­d No. 3 East Catholic, 74-59, in The Day of New London Holiday Classic.

“I made a promise to him we would play the best competitio­n I could get.

“Obviously, there are restrictio­ns with scheduling. We have five big venue games. I want to give him the best opportunit­y to be showcased. It’s also an unbelievab­le opportunit­y for my kids. I dressed all my guys on the roster tonight for the experience to play at Mohegan Sun.”

Donovan Clingan stayed home. As a result, his journey is nearly the opposite of playing at prep school and on Monday night the journey brought him to the casino home of the state championsh­ips for an early season showdown. People

know who Clingan is. They know he is 7-2. They know he’ll play at UConn next season. Every point, every rebound, every block is duly noted.

He is the Wilt Chamberlai­n of the CIAC. He will play his senior season in a fishbowl that extends north of the state border against Springfiel­d Central, the No. 1 team in Mass. last season, at the HoopHall Classic on Jan. 14.

“I think it’s pretty neat, a homegrown kid, going to UConn,” Northwest Catholic coach John Mirabello said. “It kind of reminds me of the Corny Thompson days. A guy who the whole state is watching and will go right up I-84. Give the kid a lot of credit for sticking with this, his mom and all, it’s a really nice story.

“He’s deserving of all the awards that come his way. He’s terrific. The rest of the kids on that team can play. They’re experience­d and tough. Tim is smart. He put them on the tour.”

When he pulled in his 17th rebound in the fourth quarter, it was announced Clingan had broken the school record of 1,032 held by his mom. Folks in the crowd nodded knowingly and applauded. Stacey (Porrini) Clingan died of breast cancer in 2018.

“She is the reason I push myself and she inspires me every day to get better,” Clingan said. “She is proud of me, I know that, but I need to keep making her proud.”

The 2021 Gatorade Player of the Year is regularly going against players smaller and not as advanced as in the top preps. He is expected every night to match last season’s averages of 27.3 points, 17.2 rebounds and 5.8 blocked shots and most nights eclipse them. Against East Catholic, missing a quarter of play with four fouls, Clingan finished with 29, 18 and 7. He was 11-of-23 from the field, 7-of-14 on free throws.

“You can’t let him get any deep touches, because then it’s over,” said East Catholic coach Luke Reilly. “Then he’s big enough and strong

enough there’s a potential foul from not letting him get that deep touch.

“You’re trying to get up and down the floor ahead of him. You’re trying to limit his super low-post touches. But their best offense is missing shots in terms of his presence inside. What really gets you at the end of the day is the second shot off the offensive glass. Anything close, he’s getting and it’s going right back in.”

Reilly pointed out Clingan is a very good passer with unobstruct­ed vision. He finds cutters. Helping on Clingan, keeping him from getting too deep, covering cutters to the hoop, there is only so much a defense can do. Damion Glasper torched East Catholic with five threes. On the other end, Clingan is such a game changer that it is tough to get your own action to the basket.

“It becomes are you going to make shots or not make shots?” Reilly said.

East Catholic obviously didn’t make enough. And on this night when Clingan was on the bench from 4:20 left in the third until 5:18 remaining in the fourth, Central expanded the lead from 13 to 19. This wasn’t like the CCC title game last season when East Catholic forced overtime before falling on a Clingan hoop.

“People know we have Donovan,” Barrette said. “What people don’t realize is Damion and Victor Rosa have been starting four years. I have 200 games of varsity experience in my lineup.”

Clingan showed nice touch on a 16-foot jump shot. He showed a deft hook in the lane. A halfdozen of his baskets were off offensive rebounds. Reilly is correct. He is a put-back dunk waiting to happen.

Will Clingan become another Mike Gminski, who played at Masuk and Duke before the NBA? Some see that kind of path. Projection is a tricky animal. What I do know is lack of space and time changes everything in sports. Only when directly challenged and rushed by athletes of the same caliber do we find out exactly where a player stands.

Top prep teams have a half-dozen Division I players. Sometimes more. Minutes are divided. Shots are divided. A featured player one game might not be featured the next. There are challenges out there every night to see yet, in most cases, few fans go to see.

Desmond Claude, the 6-5 guard from New Haven playing at Putnam Science, has become better known in recent months after getting offers from the likes of Xavier, Louisville and now Kansas. Yet beyond recruiters, who knows his game? UConn never really got involved and one reason may be his chilly relationsh­ip with UConn’s other major 2022 commit Alex Karaban. Claude is ranked No. 3 in New England by NERR behind 6-11 Kyle Filipowski of Wilbraham & Monson, who’s going to Duke, and Clingan. The relative developmen­t will be interestin­g to watch.

“So much of Donovan’s work is honestly put in at the practice sessions,” Barrette said. “A lot of work at 5:30 in the morning. A lot of people don’t know that we do a lot of individual skill work on our own.”

When “YMCA” started playing during one stoppage, Clingan turned to the Central student section and started forming the letters. He is vocal and lively. He fouled Leondre Sanchez in the third quarter and he and East’s Robert Elliott were quickly assessed technical fouls. In this case he said he didn’t say anything. He said the ref told him he couldn’t give only Elliott a T.

“I’m like, ‘Thanks,’” Clingan said.

After going to the bench, he didn’t sulk. He stood there urging on his teammates. When you are Clingan, everybody notices that stuff.

“I wish I could have you guys come to our freshmen games,” Barrette said. “He sits on the bench with my freshman coach, draws plays and is the first one up rooting when a kid hits a three. He’s an unbelievab­le teammate and leader. He carries a lot of weight on his shoulders at the school. We have an unbelievab­le rapport. We have been through the wringer together. He’s a special kid.”

Bristol Central will play Wilbur Cross on Feb. 2 at Floyd Little Athletic Center and against Windsor at XL Center on Feb. 10. Clingan said he can’t wait to play on a court with a Huskies logo on it.

What he won’t be playing in is the CIAC Division I state playoffs. Central, along with Northwest Catholic, No. 2 in the state poll before losing to Wilbur Cross, opted to remain in Division II.

“We could play East Catholic twice including the CCC tournament and could have been three times if we went to Division I,” Barrette said. “Same with Windsor. I don’t want to play teams three times, to be honest. Nobody wants to play somebody three times.

“We play Wilbur Cross. We play Springfiel­d Central. We could play Northwest Catholic (in the CCC tournament as well as states).”

Barrette call it a hard decision. Mirabello said Northwest just decided to go where the CIAC put the school.

“Bristol Central is the best team in the state,” Mirabello said. “Honestly, I or II this year is unique. With (Central) there, two divisions are outstandin­g.”

“If we didn’t have the schedule we have, then we got to go I,” Barrette said. “But I’m already playing every team I possibly can play in big venues. We’ve taken our tolls. Nobody was asking me what division I wanted to go when I was 2-18.”

A highly recruited state kid goes to State U and that means expectatio­ns will be high. Recognitio­n already is. There is no hiding when you are 7-2. UConn fans can be tough and impatient. UConn twitter world can be impossible. But for now Donovan Clingan and the Bristol Central Tour rolls on.

“We start at the Sun,” Clingan said. “We’re going to finish at the Sun.”

 ?? Pete Paguaga / Hearst Connecticu­t Media ?? Donovan Clingan and Bristol Central will play Wilbur Cross on Feb. 2 at Floyd Little Athletic Center and against Windsor at XL Center on Feb. 10.
Pete Paguaga / Hearst Connecticu­t Media Donovan Clingan and Bristol Central will play Wilbur Cross on Feb. 2 at Floyd Little Athletic Center and against Windsor at XL Center on Feb. 10.
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