Syracuse Basketball: 2022 4-star center Donovan Clingan could start “now”

Donovan Clingan, a ridiculously talented 2022 center, says that Syracuse basketball is among the teams making him a high-priority target.

Top-50 prospect Donovan Clingan, a 2022 four-star center, says that Syracuse basketball, former Big East Conference rival Connecticut and Big Ten Conference powerhouse Michigan State are “recruiting me really hard,” according to a report.

Per the recruiting services 247Sports and Verbal Commits, the Orange represented the first Power Five conference crew to offer a scholarship to the 7-foot-1 low-post star, back in August of 2019. Clingan attends Bristol Central High School in Bristol, Conn., and competes on the AAU circuit for the Boston-based Team Spartans.

Although just a rising junior whose recruitment still has a long way to go, Clingan has already landed more than a dozen offers. In addition to the ‘Cuse, UConn and MSU, he holds offers from Virginia Tech, Rutgers, Providence, Notre Dame, UMass, Maryland, Iowa, Georgetown, Boston College and Yale.

In the article by Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog, Clingan said, “I’m UConn’s No. 1 recruit, one of Syracuse’s top recruits and also one of Michigan State’s top recruits.”

Interestingly enough, Zagoria wrote in his piece that Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim “has said Clingan could start for the Orange now.”

Last season, Clingan posted averages of 24.8 points, 17.2 rebounds and 6.4 blocks per contest, according to Zagoria, who cited GameTimeCT for these numbers. That’s pretty remarkable, especially given it was only Clingan’s sophomore campaign.

At this juncture, Rivals.com slots Clingan at No. 47 overall in the 2022 class, followed by No. 49 from ESPN.com. After 247Sports updates its ratings at some point in the future, it would come as a stunner if Clingan isn’t ranked.

"Joe Chatman, the coach of Team Spartans, had this to say about his AAU player to Zagoria. “[W]hat he’s done recently is work on his range. He’s shooting the 3 fairly well for a guy his size. His passing ability for a guy that young, like [Jim] Boeheim was saying when he first saw him last year, out of double-teams is unparalleled. It’s better than most bigs at the college level now.”"

Given the well-documented struggles that Syracuse basketball has encountered in recent stanzas at the center spot, it’s an understatement to say that Orange fanatics would eagerly welcome Clingan to the Hill.