Syracuse Basketball: 4-star Donovan Clingan likes Orange’s style of play

Syracuse basketball 2022 high-priority target Donovan Clingan, a four-star center and a top-60 prospect in this cycle, has said on more than one occasion of late that he doesn’t have a favorite school or schools at this juncture.

Analysts have characterized Clingan’s recruitment as tough to gauge for now, because he has an abundance of high-major offers and hasn’t compiled any sort of list of finalists.

However, the 7-foot-1 Clingan does plan to commit to a college squad “right before his senior season,” according to a new article from 247Sports national analyst Dushawn London.

Clingan, a junior at Bristol Central High School in Bristol, Conn., possesses more than a dozen offers in total, and they come from some high-quality groups in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big Ten Conference, the Big East Conference and other leagues.

He recently landed an offer from Michigan, and I expect the Wolverines to be a huge factoring in his recruiting process. Not only is Michigan a top-three team in the 2020-21 term, but it is also faring excellently on the recruiting trail.

According to London’s story, Clingan hears the most from “Rutgers, UConn, Georgetown, Michigan, Ohio State, Syracuse, Providence, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Iowa, Louisville and Iona.”

Syracuse basketball is in a recruiting battle for 2022 four-star center Donovan Clingan.

The Orange coaching staff was the first squad to offer a scholarship to Clingan, and that offer came back in August of 2019. That the ‘Cuse got in early with this talented big man can only help the Orange’s chances.

But teams such as Michigan and Iowa are having exquisite 2020-21 terms, and those groups are also developing big men extremely well in recent campaigns.

Check out what Clingan said to London, in part, about the Wolverines. “It was big to get that offer. It’s a big time school with a great coach. I hopped on a Zoom call for two hours with the staff and it’s just a blessing to get an offer from that school.”

As far as the Hawkeyes go, Clingan said, “Our relationship is pretty good. They have a big time big right now so that’s always a big factor knowing they produce great bigs. I have a good relationship with the staff and coach [Fran] McCaffery. What stands out about them is how they’re not a selfish team, everyone over there is good, the coaching staff is good and they got Luka Garza who’s a beast.”

Clingan has said in multiple interviews which I’ve read that he doesn’t necessarily put UConn ahead of other suitors just because the Huskies are located in the state where he lives. That being said, Clingan does say positive things about UConn.

"We will close with what Clingan said about Syracuse basketball in the 247Sports piece. “Our relationship is good. I spoke with coach [Jim] Boeheim yesterday and that’s a Hall of Fame coach right there so it doesn’t get better than that. They do well with bigs. They play a two-three defense a lot and I see myself fitting in their style of play. They were the first school to offer me so that always means something.”"