Syracuse Basketball: Massive weekend with 4-star Donovan Clingan visit

Syracuse basketball was the first school to offer 2022 four-star big man Donovan Clingan, with that scholarship offer coming nearly two years ago.

The Orange high-priority target has spoken highly of the ‘Cuse program on many occasions, and he’s noted the importance of Syracuse basketball coaches believing in him early on.

Will that help catapult the Orange toward picking up a commitment from the 7-foot-1 center? That remains to be seen. As we’ve noted more than once of late, the buzz among some analysts is that Michigan and Connecticut are the teams to beat in this recruiting battle, although Clingan keeps things pretty close to the vest.

A lot of ‘Cuse fanatics that I interact with on social media and in chat rooms are pretty convinced that Clingan isn’t coming to the Hill, but you never know how the recruitments of high-school prospects will pan out.

What I do know is that Clingan is scheduled to take an official visit to Central New York on June 19-20, and I’m hopeful that Orange coaches and players will give Clingan a trip to remember.

Syracuse basketball will soon welcome four-star prospect Donovan Clingan to the Hill.

Clingan is a junior at Bristol Central High School in Bristol, Conn., and he runs on the AAU circuit with the Boston-based Team Spartans. He had an exceptional junior term with his high school, earning multiple state and national honors.

A consensus top-60 player in the 2022 cycle, Clingan is also one of the best centers in this class, so it’s no wonder that ‘Cuse fans are hoping that he will don an Orange uniform down the road.

Clingan recently took an unofficial visit to UConn and has also made an official visit to Michigan. Then come trips to Syracuse basketball and Ohio State, according to recruiting guru Jake Weingarten, the founder of Stockrisers.com.

"Regarding his upcoming official visit to the Hill, Clingan recently told Weingarten, “I go on my official visit for Syracuse next week, they were the first school to offer me, they’ve always believed in me from the start, I’m excited to get out there with Coach (Jim) Boeheim and his staff.”"

Clingan, by the way, has a top eight of Syracuse basketball, Michigan, Ohio State, Georgetown, Connecticut, Providence, Rutgers and fellow Atlantic Coast Conference member Notre Dame.