Syracuse Basketball: Season young, but 4-star Donovan Clingan on a tear

The current term just got going for Syracuse basketball 2022 target Donovan Clingan and his teammates at Bristol Central High School in Bristol, Conn.

It’s only a few games into the season for the 7-foot-1 Clingan, however, he’s performing at a really high level so far. According to recruiting guru Jake Weingarten, the founder of Stockrisers.com, Clingan is averaging about 32 points and 14 rebounds through three contests.

Clingan, presently in his junior year, is a four-star center and a top-60 prospect in the 2022 cycle whose first scholarship offer came from the Orange back in August of 2019.

Since then, his recruitment has significantly expanded on a national scale. We recently detailed how he disclosed a new offer from Michigan, which is one of the best teams in all of college basketball at this juncture in the 2020-21 campaign.

Clingan, who competes on the AAU circuit with the Boston-based Team Spartans, owns more than a dozen offers in total, with others coming from high-majors such as Ohio State, Connecticut, Georgetown, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Providence, Rutgers and Virginia Tech.

Weingarten said in a tweet that he believes Clingan is a five-star prospect in the 2022 class. I’m not a recruiting analyst, however, I do believe that Clingan could ultimately reach five stars from the majority of recruiting services.

Syracuse basketball 2022 four-star target Donovan Clingan discusses his recruitment.

In an interview with Weingarten, when asked “which schools are heavily in the mix,” Clingan responded, “Rutgers, UConn, Georgetown, Michigan, Ohio State, Syracuse, Providence, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Iowa, Iona, and Louisville.” Weingarten did note here that Louisville hasn’t yet offered Clingan a scholarship.

"As far as the Orange’s recruitment of Clingan, he said, “Syracuse is one of the programs that is recruiting me heavily and I stay in very good contact with their coaching staff.”"

I’ve written in columns on Clingan numerous times that some recruiting analysts have characterized his recruiting process as tough to gauge, with no particular collegiate front-runners for the time being.

Still, it’s encouraging to hear from Clingan that he remains in close communication with Syracuse basketball coaches. Clingan has terrific offensive and defensive skill-sets for a prospect of his size, he can shoot with proficiency, he rebounds and passes well, and he has a strong court vision.

The Orange’s struggles at the center position in recent years, primarily on offense, are well-documented, and Syracuse basketball fans would certainly feel eager to have Clingan suit up in Central New York.