Syracuse Basketball: Oh boy, analyst logs prediction for Donovan Clingan

Syracuse basketball 2022 high-priority target Donovan Clingan has by all accounts kept his recruiting process close to the vest, not really tipping off any favorite or favorites to potentially land him.

In fact, as we’ve noted in numerous columns in recent months, national analysts and other recruiting insiders have said that they believe the recruitment of Clingan is tough to gauge, in terms of a possible front-runner.

Even with that as context, one of the best analysts in the business has made a projection about where he thinks the 7-foot-1 center will end up.

Eric Bossi, the national basketball director for 247Sports, has predicted that the elite four-star big man will pick Connecticut. Bossi assigns a medium confidence level to his projection for Clingan.

Now, this doesn’t mean that the Huskies have won the recruiting battle over the four-star Clingan, and that by extension the Orange is out of the running. The recruiting world is fluid and fickle, and things can change rather rapidly.

Four-star center Donovan Clingan has Syracuse basketball among his finalists.

Clingan has a top eight that includes the ‘Cuse, along with Michigan, Ohio State, Georgetown, Connecticut, Providence, Rutgers and fellow Atlantic Coast Conference member Notre Dame.

For a period of time now, the chatter online among analysts and others is that Michigan and Connecticut could be the two teams to beat for Clingan, who is coming off a stellar junior campaign for Bristol Central High School in Bristol, Conn.

UConn seems logical, given that the Huskies are Clingan’s home-state team. The Wolverines, meanwhile, are doing wonderfully on the recruiting trail of late. Plus, Michigan has a reputation for developing big men quite well.

Clingan himself, in recent interviews, has spoken highly of all eight schools that remain in contention. He appears pretty neutral on his recruiting process, at least for now.

I’ll point out that the first college team to offer Clingan was Syracuse basketball, with that offer arriving nearly two years ago. He has noted that more than once, and how it means something to him, because it shows that Orange coaches believed in Clingan early on.

One of the premier big men in the 2022 cycle, Clingan runs on the AAU circuit with the Boston-based Team Spartans. He is generally considered a top-50 prospect overall in his class.

We’ll continue to monitor this. One prediction for Clingan is a little concerning. Multiple projections for him to a finalist other than Syracuse basketball would prove much more alarming.