2022 Recruiting: - Clingan Top 8 | Page 2 | The Boneyard

2022 Recruiting: Clingan Top 8

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We must cling to Clingan.
 
Weird final eight - Michigan and UConn seem to be the final choices unless someone else sneaks in
It will be tough to compete with Michigan, no matter if JH is the coach or not
I hope Dan Hurley has a back-up option hidden up his sleeve
 
Anyone else feel like we're chasing this kid solely because of proximity and not necessarily fit? Hurley likes athletes who can switch and this guy is as old school big as it gets. I think he'll enjoy a good college career wherever he ends up, just won't be upset if it's not here...minus the fact that we've apparently hedged pretty hard on him and probably don't have much of a backup plan for '22
 
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BGesus4 said:
I love how ppl are certain Michigan is the leader because he might’ve had a Michigan poster on his wall when he was 10. For all we know one of those other schools is the biggest competition. Fit, relationship with coaches and players, perception of ability to get him to the next level, etc, are all going to carry way more weight than his “favorite team growing up”.

Michigan obviously has a lot going for it in terms of actual valuable characteristics, but ppl are basing their opinions on something which will have next to no impact on his decision.
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u sure aboot that?

Gerrit-Cole-Yankee-fan-832x447.jpg
 
nomar said:
Literally LOLed. Happens like once a month from reading a MB post. Thank you.
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I'm not good at much, but I try not to pass up low hanging fruit.
 
Ajs120102 said:
Feel like we can safely cross out Georgetown, providence. Think it’s a two horse race between Michigan and UConn with a hair lead for UConn.
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Michigan would ruin a player like Clingan. He needs a developmental type of coach and school. Michigan and Howard definitely don’t offer a kid a chance to develop himself like UConn and Dan Hurley. If he chooses Michigan he’ll get run over and transfer during his second year. I’m surprised Koach Krap, Roy or Mark Few never made a big push for DC. Hard hedging be damned, Hurley and his assistants would be much better for DC and his college career.
 
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I don't know the kid at all, but I do know humans, and I could imagine that the fact he stayed home for HS could actually be driving his decision to possibly go farther away for college. He had good reason to stay home for high school, but he also seems to have an alpha mentality and I can see him not wanting to be defined as someone with an unhealthy attachment to home. Going away for college could be a natural and healthy next step in his progression through life. Now, having been a CT kid who went to UConn, I know that the campus can be a world unto itself, making the mileage from home a moot point, but he might not fully get that or just want to not even have those thoughts lingering at all, in which case best of luck to the kid. Hurley is so damn good in terms of long-term planning I have no doubt we will be fine either way this thing goes.
 
TheChamps990411 said:
How adorable! Hes cut his list down to 8. Hes really having fun with his recruitment. What number is he going to wear when he comes here? Isnt 32 retired?
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No numbers are retired. They're up on the wall but not retired. They let Jonathan Mandeldove wear 32 for God's sake. 😁
 
From what I was able to parse from Clingan‘s tweet, I believe that he has not yet decided on which college to go to yet, but that he will likely pick one of the eight he listed.

Of those eight, one of them was UConn which I took as a good sign.
 
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NYtoCT said:
No. 34 is retired for a certain someone
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When did they do that? After he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame? David Onuorah wore 34 in 2017-2018 which was just before Ray was inducted into the Hall in September 2018.
 
I hope Dan Hurley is using the Calhoun method: offer two guys that he feels can do the job and take the first one who commits. Travis Best and Kevin Ollie are the two guards I recall as one example and KO committed first.

It'd be a great story for a movie to have the local kid stay home and lead the team to multiple championships, but we won championships with two lightly recruited guys, Jake Voskuhl and Amidah Brimah, at center.

And then there's Emeka Okafor who few, if any, had heard much about.
Committed late and Bob Gibbons, the recruiting guru of the time, had him rated as the 106th best player in the country but on the upswing. Here's the Courant article on him (but I think they got his SAT score wrong):
"Huge.
That's what Emeka Okafor's oral commitment is for the Huskies.
The 6-foot-9 center/forward from Bellaire (Texas) High made it official Thursday night. But he made the promise to UConn coach Jim Calhoun on Wednesday that he would play his college basketball in a UConn uniform.
He just wanted to sleep on it one more night. When he woke Thursday, he was certain.
`I pretty much knew I wanted to go there for a while,'' said Okafor, who chose the Huskies over Arkansas and Vanderbilt. `I just wanted to think things through.''

The things Okafor thought through were jotted down on a sheet of paper: availability of playing time, tradition and academics.
Whenever Okafor looked at that sheet, all the check marks were placed next to UConn.

``It's the place where I think I'll have the most success academically and athletically,'' said Okafor, who through honors courses has a 4.3 grade point average on a scale of 4.0.
He said there is no chance he will change his mind and that he intends to fax his letter of intent to UConn today.
Until then, the coaching staff can't comment on Okafor, but there is no question landing him was huge for the Huskies.

First and foremost, they needed a player like him, a sinewy, athletic post player who can run the floor, jump, block shots and play defense. And after a fall recruiting season that netted just one player -- a pretty good one though in Mount Vernon guard Ben Gordon -- the Huskies now have two recruits rated in the top 100 and are in good shape to land another player or two before the spring signing period ends next month.

With Okafor joining Johnnie Selvie and 7-foot center Justin Brown, the Huskies should be solid inside.

`Connecticut is getting a significant addition to its program with Emeka,'' said Bob Gibbons, the national high school recruiting expert. `He was the best available center or big man available this spring, which is why he's been considered one of the top unsigned players in the nation. He had a lot of schools coming after him that wanted him back in the fall. But he decided to wait. But I think UConn is a good choice for him.

``He's not like the other fella UConn had there from Texas, Jake Voskuhl, who was a power guy. Emeka is more of the athletic, wiry type who can do a lot of things.''

Okafor, who scored 1,013 on the SAT, said he enjoyed his visit to Storrs this month.

`The visit definitely helped,'' he said. `But I just wanted to wait and make sure I was making the right decision.''

Okafor played exceptionally well at the Nike camp in Indianapolis last summer but said he wasn't ready to commit to a school.

As his senior season went on -- he averaged 22 points, 15 rebounds and almost six blocks -- he continued to grab the attention of schools such as Stanford, North Carolina State, Georgia Tech, Rice and Vanderbilt.

New Texas Tech coach Bob Knight tried to get in the Okafor sweepstakes late. And after Okafor had 26 points and 12 rebounds in being named MVP of the Pittsburgh Hoops Classic last weekend, North Carolina tried to jump in this week.

But Okafor told the Tar Heels it would be a waste of time. In his mind, he was pretty sure he would choose UConn.

`I have Emeka rated as the 106th best player in the nation right now, but his stock has risen so much in the past year, he'll easily be in the top 100,'' Gibbons said. `It doesn't matter what number he'll be. If he's top 100, he's top 100. I'm sure UConn won't care. They are getting a great player no matter where he's rated. That's a nice catch for them.''
 
Watchdog said:
I hope Dan Hurley is using the Calhoun method: offer two guys that he feels can do the job and take the first one who commits. Travis Best and Kevin Ollie are the two guards I recall as one example and KO committed first.

It'd be a great story for a movie to have the local kid stay home and lead the team to multiple championships, but we won championships with two lightly recruited guys, Jake Voskuhl and Amidah Brimah, at center.

And then there's Emeka Okafor who few, if any, had heard much about.
Committed late and Bob Gibbons, the recruiting guru of the time, had him rated as the 106th best player in the country but on the upswing. Here's the Courant article on him (but I think they got his SAT score wrong):
"Huge.
That's what Emeka Okafor's oral commitment is for the Huskies.
The 6-foot-9 center/forward from Bellaire (Texas) High made it official Thursday night. But he made the promise to UConn coach Jim Calhoun on Wednesday that he would play his college basketball in a UConn uniform.
He just wanted to sleep on it one more night. When he woke Thursday, he was certain.
`I pretty much knew I wanted to go there for a while,'' said Okafor, who chose the Huskies over Arkansas and Vanderbilt. `I just wanted to think things through.''

The things Okafor thought through were jotted down on a sheet of paper: availability of playing time, tradition and academics.
Whenever Okafor looked at that sheet, all the check marks were placed next to UConn.

``It's the place where I think I'll have the most success academically and athletically,'' said Okafor, who through honors courses has a 4.3 grade point average on a scale of 4.0.
He said there is no chance he will change his mind and that he intends to fax his letter of intent to UConn today.
Until then, the coaching staff can't comment on Okafor, but there is no question landing him was huge for the Huskies.

First and foremost, they needed a player like him, a sinewy, athletic post player who can run the floor, jump, block shots and play defense. And after a fall recruiting season that netted just one player -- a pretty good one though in Mount Vernon guard Ben Gordon -- the Huskies now have two recruits rated in the top 100 and are in good shape to land another player or two before the spring signing period ends next month.

With Okafor joining Johnnie Selvie and 7-foot center Justin Brown, the Huskies should be solid inside.

`Connecticut is getting a significant addition to its program with Emeka,'' said Bob Gibbons, the national high school recruiting expert. `He was the best available center or big man available this spring, which is why he's been considered one of the top unsigned players in the nation. He had a lot of schools coming after him that wanted him back in the fall. But he decided to wait. But I think UConn is a good choice for him.

``He's not like the other fella UConn had there from Texas, Jake Voskuhl, who was a power guy. Emeka is more of the athletic, wiry type who can do a lot of things.''

Okafor, who scored 1,013 on the SAT, said he enjoyed his visit to Storrs this month.

`The visit definitely helped,'' he said. `But I just wanted to wait and make sure I was making the right decision.''

Okafor played exceptionally well at the Nike camp in Indianapolis last summer but said he wasn't ready to commit to a school.

As his senior season went on -- he averaged 22 points, 15 rebounds and almost six blocks -- he continued to grab the attention of schools such as Stanford, North Carolina State, Georgia Tech, Rice and Vanderbilt.

New Texas Tech coach Bob Knight tried to get in the Okafor sweepstakes late. And after Okafor had 26 points and 12 rebounds in being named MVP of the Pittsburgh Hoops Classic last weekend, North Carolina tried to jump in this week.

But Okafor told the Tar Heels it would be a waste of time. In his mind, he was pretty sure he would choose UConn.

`I have Emeka rated as the 106th best player in the nation right now, but his stock has risen so much in the past year, he'll easily be in the top 100,'' Gibbons said. `It doesn't matter what number he'll be. If he's top 100, he's top 100. I'm sure UConn won't care. They are getting a great player no matter where he's rated. That's a nice catch for them.''
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Bruh. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

Hit me with the cliff notes of that dissertation.
 
husky429 said:
Also... I think the answer is we need to add different types of PnR coverage. A drop coverage, ice, soft hedge, whatever. Stuff to make it easier on our slower big men.

I expect (and really hope) that Hurley intends to add these layers of complexity as our team matures out of the rebuild. Maybe we only hard hedge When Whaley/Akok/Johnson are involved in the PnR and otherwise use a drop cover. It does seem like that's what we moved to later in the season to keep Sanogo out of foul trouble

Our defense when not in the PnR is nearly flawless imo. We have personnel issues, but in terms of effort, our rotations, and communication our team is really damn good.
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There is also some defensive schemes which Hurley simply refuses to use, even when it’s obvious they do. Hint: they start with a Z.
 
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BlueDogs said:
There is also some defensive schemes which Hurley simply refuses to use, even when it’s obvious they do. Hint: they start with a Z.
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I mean it's okay if we don't want to be a team that goes zone. I don't love it, but I get creating that team identity. There are other ways to protect bigs from foul trouble or guys that can't defend someone 1v1
 
He "looks" more like a Michigan player (e.g. Mo Wagner) than a UConn player, and Michigan has had more success and a higher profile in the last few years, but who knows.
 
husky429 said:
We hard hedge, so bigs needs to be super mobile sliding on the perimeter. That's why Whaley (with the body of a PF) is so effective defending at the 5 for us in the hedge... lack of size is also why he struggles against traditional bigs. It's also why Sanogo (and presumably Clingan would also) really struggled with it.

Because we hard hedge so much, it's actually our 4s and 3s that should be elite shot-blockers. Because of the double team up top, they end up helping a lot. Akok racked up a TON of blocks in the help that way, and I think we're probably hoping Johnson can do the same. Sid Wilson did a decent job in his minutes there too.
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So well stated. It's also a big part of why Polley was a problem on D, because he couldn't do that at all despite his length. He was a better defender back when we weren't hedging and Josh was parked in the paint 2-3 years ago. Akok totally changes our defense for the better. AJax brings shot blocking from the 3 as well.
 
HooperScooper said:
Free access article:
www.nhregister.com

UConn among Bristol Central 7-footer Donovan Clingan’s final eight college choices

Donovan Clingan, the 7-foot-1 center from Bristol Central, incudes Syracuse, Georgetown,...
www.nhregister.com www.nhregister.com

I don't remember seeing this article before. Maybe I just missed it.

“I feel like not being able to go look at a school is just holding off my decision,” Clingan said. “I haven’t toured one campus yet. … I feel I want to be committed before the start of my senior high school season and be able to go out and play my senior season not worrying about college and already having made my decision and (have my) head straight with one school.”

www.gametimect.com

2021 GameTimeCT Boys Basketball MVP: Donovan Clingan, Bristol Central

GameTimeCT · Courtside With Joe Morelli (S3; E8): Bristol Central’s Donovan Clingan and...
www.gametimect.com www.gametimect.com
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I get this. Having done a lot of it for the last year, I can say that virtual visits suck. They don't show you nearly enough and are obviously designed to focus on the good stuff. I think he's doing the right thing. Make the visits when he can, then make his decision. It's not all about basketball, he's going to college. Whether he becomes NBA material or not, I think he expects to be there for 3-4 years.
 
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