Syracuse Basketball: 4-star Donovan Clingan tough-to-read recruitment

Syracuse basketball is among a boatload of high-majors pursuing 2022 four-star center Donovan Clingan.

Many Syracuse basketball fans are hoping that 2022 four-star center Donovan Clingan chooses the Orange over a collection of other really impressive scholarship offers. But there doesn’t appear to be a favorite or even small group of favorites to land the talented 7-foot-1 big man.

One thing that Clingan has made clear. Just because he goes to high school in Connecticut doesn’t at all mean that it’s a foregone conclusion he will select former Big East Conference rival UConn.

"Clingan, for example, told recruiting guru Jake Weingarten, the founder of Stockrisers.com, in a recent interview, “A lot of people think I’m going to UConn and many think I’ve already made my choice in going there, I haven’t made my choice. Just because they’re in Connecticut doesn’t mean I like them more, I like them just as much as every other school.”"

Considering that, in recent years, the Huskies have snagged several prospects whom the ‘Cuse had also offered, it’s encouraging to hear that Clingan heading to UConn isn’t a given.

In a recent column that we penned on the top-60 Clingan, we noted that his offer list is approaching 20 teams. Yet in his Q&A with Weingarten, “Clingan says UConn, UMass, Michigan State, Georgetown, Providence, Iowa, Syracuse, Rutgers, Notre Dame, Boston College, Yale, Maryland, Virginia Tech, South Carolina, Iona, Louisville, UCF, Northwestern, Columbia, Georgia, Ohio State, Holy Cross, Clemson, and Wake Forest are amongst those recruiting him.”

That’s an abundance of competition for his services. Clingan, by the way, is a junior at Bristol Central High School in Bristol, Conn., and runs on the AAU circuit with the Boston-based Team Spartans.

Syracuse basketball faces an uphill battle to win the recruiting bout over 2022 four-star center Donovan Clingan.

Since Clingan is a junior, his recruiting process could have a long way to go. Our previous story on him said that he “may make a decision after his AAU season next summer.”

To date, I’ve read a ton of articles on Clingan, and I haven’t seen any mentions by him of potential front-runners. I also have yet to witness any predictions from recruiting analysts for Clingan.

"So, for the time being, it’s fairly safe to say that the Orange remains in contention for his services. Clingan said to Weingarten, “I mean, all the schools that have offered me stay in decent contact. I can’t really pick one school that calls more than the other, but, all coaches and everyone on the staff call me or text me on a daily basis.”"

Whichever squad gets Clingan will have an elite big man within its 2022 cycle, but the only thing that seems clear at this juncture is that his recruitment is extremely tough to gauge.