Donovan Clingan commits to UConn

[CallMeBruce]

Yeah, I know you can't teach size but also having a big guy who isn't mobile and can't shoot from the outside is not really part of the new game of basketball. It isn't like this guy has a bunch of inside moves and is unstoppable force. Hey I hope I'm wrong about this guy and he is more than a serviceable big but I'm not high on him. We can have opinions on this forum that differ from the masses correct? I love the Floyd pickup earlier and hoping we can pick up some more athletes/shooters in this class.

To an extent, but with a few caveats. For one, Clingan isn't merely big - he's going to have elite size at every level. Additionally, while the game is certainly moving towards having shooters everywhere on the court, that's happening far more slowly in the college game. If Clingan never really gets his shooting going, that is going to really limit his NBA potential, though he's got some time to figure that out. There are a lot of excellent college centers, even today, who aren't particularly mobile and who don't take many shots outside of 5 feet.

 

[jibsey]

I have but two wishes. That would be for Clingan to learn Sanogo’s footwork around the rim and to become an effective shot blocker. Everything after that will be good.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Yeah, I know you can't teach size but also having a big guy who isn't mobile and can't shoot from the outside is not really part of the new game of basketball. It isn't like this guy has a bunch of inside moves and is unstoppable force. Hey I hope I'm wrong about this guy and he is more than a serviceable big but I'm not high on him. We can have opinions on this forum that differ from the masses correct? I love the Floyd pickup earlier and hoping we can pick up some more athletes/shooters in this class.

“can’t shoot from the outside” ??????

Outside of what for Christ’s sakes???? He’s a good free throw shooter, that’s good enough for me.

 

[superjohn]

To an extent, but with a few caveats. For one, Clingan isn't merely big - he's going to have elite size at every level. Additionally, while the game is certainly moving towards having shooters everywhere on the court, that's happening far more slowly in the college game. If Clingan never really gets his shooting going, that is going to really limit his NBA potential, though he's got some time to figure that out. There are a lot of excellent college centers, even today, who aren't particularly mobile and who don't take many shots outside of 5 feet.

People seem to think there's a bunch of giant big men drilling threes all the time. It's basically just Jokic, Embiid, and Towns.

 

[AntG168]

People seem to think there's a bunch of giant big men drilling threes all the time. It's basically just Jokic, Embiid, and Towns.

Brook Lopez as well. But your point remains. I actually think Clingan can be a Brook Lopez(at Stanford) type of player as an upperclassman.

 

[EricLA]

DC is now one of Sool's lieutenants

Northwestern - not a great basketball school, but a really good academic school. Still, pose with a NC trophy, or a hammer? LOL.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Everyone talking about jump shots and 3 pointers kind of loses me.

If the kid can dunk, grab some boards and we can funnel the offensive team into the paint where he can swat some shots we'll be in real good shape.

 

[Chief00]

Yeah, I know you can't teach size but also having a big guy who isn't mobile and can't shoot from the outside is not really part of the new game of basketball. It isn't like this guy has a bunch of inside moves and is unstoppable force. Hey I hope I'm wrong about this guy and he is more than a serviceable big but I'm not high on him. We can have opinions on this forum that differ from the masses correct? I love the Floyd pickup earlier and hoping we can pick up some more athletes/shooters in this class.

You got to allow an 18 year old 7-1 kid a chance to develop. When I saw Donovan in person I saw some potential. It’s up to him to do the work and take a professional approach. Chief is confident that he will.

 

[MDHuskFan]

They’re either Bigs who stand at the 3 point line and they are useless because they don’t use their size. Or they are big and use their size in the paint, but also equally useless cause they don’t go to the 3pt line.
(fwiw he does have clips out there shooting behind the arc. May not be a staple to his game, but something he could develop from some kind of foundation)

 

[Husky Alien]

Everyone talking about jump shots and 3 pointers kind of loses me.

If the kid can dunk, grab some boards and we can funnel the offensive team into the paint where he can swat some shots we'll be in real good shape.

I agree. However, I don't think to many teams would want to veer in the paint with our bigs, Adama, Akok, Johnson, Clingan, AJ and Springs. We will swat some shots. We are big. Woof!

 

[3rdbass]

“can’t shoot from the outside” ??????

Outside of what for Christ’s sakes???? He’s a good free throw shooter, that’s good enough for me.

Shoot from the 3 point line like most modern bigs do nowadays. It isn't like he is an elite post player with bunch of Kevin McHale moves or the brute for of Shaq. I hope he turns into a surprise but I prefer someone who run the court and can shoot a 3 if they don't have an elite post game. Like I said before we can all have different opinions. Let's see what happens but I don't have to be as excited as others.

 

[Husky Alien]

Shoot from the 3 point line like most modern bigs do nowadays. It isn't like he is an elite post player with bunch of Kevin McHale moves or the brute for of Shaq. I hope he turns into a surprise but I prefer someone who run the court and can shoot a 3 if they don't have an elite post game. Like I said before we can all have different opinions. Let's see what happens but I don't have to be as excited as others.

No you don't, but let's give the kid a chance. He has a year left in HS and then aau after that then practicing with his/our team where he will pick things up I'm sure. He has bb skills. He is surrounded by athletic players.

 

[husky99]

You asked for a public record of my position to back up conversations Jim had, so I spent the time to do that research, despite various paywalls and now you say to disregard what the media reports because Calhoun played with them. I don’t disagree that he played with the media often and they have never been more than a backup source for Chief, but you realize you have given me an impossible task since what they report is consider public record - true or not. Ironically a media guy is your source - LOL. Quite frankly, at the time, Calhoun was very open about it in non media conversations. I will let it go now or I will be a accused of hijacking this recruit thread by answering your questions further.

Haha husky99 laughs at you saying i hijacked.... i called you out for jumping down a rabbit hole and will again... calhoun is not on record for saying that because it would be a direct quote.. that is what on the record means....... (also having a good friend in the sports news helps to understand how reports bend and add on to news vs direct quotes)

But also love again how you reference something no one can support...chief said......
Calhoun was very open about it in non media conversations.
(Really) like with who? Honestly he might have been but you toss so much grey and unsupported random statements. It should be asked?

 

[CL82]

I agree. However, I don't think to many teams would want to veer in the paint with our bigs, Adama, Akok, Johnson, Clingan, AJ and Springs. We will swat some shots. We are big. Woof!

Having Clingan as a potential eraser allows the rest of the guys to be more aggressive guarding at the perimeter. I suspect that we are going to Sanogo in that role this year.

 

[HuskyBoi]

DC is now one of Sool's lieutenants

I love this. We aren't just bringing in basketball players, we are bringing in mini assistant coaches.
In Hurley we trust

 

[Hoops01]

No matter how serious the Kentucky or UNC interest was, the importance of getting Clingan over schools like that is just so huge.

“He told me ‘I want to go to UConn. Why do I have to wait?’ ” Barrette added. “Kentucky came in the picture last week, North Carolina, but he was set on going to UConn.”

I loved this too. Landing a potential impact big man can’t hurt our pursuit of Karaban and another guard.

“I don’t want to sound cocky or anything but they told me I was their biggest target in my class. And they said if I came there, other players would follow,” Clingan said. “They also said they weren’t recruiting another big, that I was their top priority.”

Recruiting pitch to FLIP
Hey other coaches will tell you they won't play u at the 5 but we actually won't, we have a legit 5 in clingan for you to play alongside! You will have every opportunity to display and develop your overall talents without being wasted being limited in the post! Sign here

 

[Tenspro2002]

Here are my severely belated takes:

• This is a big recruiting win, but more for off-court reasons
• I'm skeptical that this kid will have the kind of on-court impact that some people expect. It's really difficult to design a college offense around a 7'1 center unless he's absolutely dominant. He's ranked around #50, not #5. I'm not as worried about his shooting, because even a 4-out offense can work with a center who's anchored in the post, but it's a legitimate question of whether he can score and defend against even 6'9 well-built bigs.
• That said, fending off the likes of Michigan and (per whispers) UNC or Kentucky is a big deal. Outside of the portal, Hurley and staff are kind of on a roll. There haven't been too many high-profile recruiting misses under this regime, and winning this one makes a statement about UConn's status on the national landscape. Good recruiting begets good recruiting, even if the player ultimately doesn't live up to the hype.

 

[UCSouth]

Shoot from the 3 point line like most modern bigs do nowadays. It isn't like he is an elite post player with bunch of Kevin McHale moves or the brute for of Shaq. I hope he turns into a surprise but I prefer someone who run the court and can shoot a 3 if they don't have an elite post game. Like I said before we can all have different opinions. Let's see what happens but I don't have to be as excited as others.

He's 17, what were you elite at when you were that age. Let me answer that, and I'm probably not going too far out on a limb, NOTHING!!!

 

[Husky Alien]

Having Clingan as a potential eraser allows the rest of the guys to be more aggressive guarding at the perimeter. I suspect that we are going to Sanogo in that role this year.

Correct!

 

[Pudge]

Yeah, I know you can't teach size but also having a big guy who isn't mobile and can't shoot from the outside is not really part of the new game of basketball. It isn't like this guy has a bunch of inside moves and is unstoppable force. Hey I hope I'm wrong about this guy and he is more than a serviceable big but I'm not high on him. We can have opinions on this forum that differ from the masses correct? I love the Floyd pickup earlier and hoping we can pick up some more athletes/shooters in this class.

YOUR opinion is based on what ... whimsy

It is a unknown; but one whereby major college evaluators are far beyond your whimsical mindset

 

[HooperScooper]

Brook Lopez as well. But your point remains. I actually think Clingan can be a Brook Lopez(at Stanford) type of player as an upperclassman.

It's interesting to look at Lopez's career shooting threes. He didn't attempt a single three his first 5 seasons in the NBA. Then the next 3 seasons he attempted a few. Then all of a sudden in his 9th season he started shooting a lot of them (5.2 threes attempted per game) and has been shooting them since then. This was probably a combination of the change in the game and his own development working on shooting.

Clingan just finished his junior year in high school. For the people who want him shooting some threes, and personally I'm not convinced UConn will need him to, maybe we should wait a little while before we say he can't do that.

Brook Lopez career stats:

Brook Lopez Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft Status and more | Basketball-Reference.com

Checkout the latest stats of Brook Lopez. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, shoots, school and more on Basketball-Reference.com

www.basketball-reference.com

 

[EricLA]

He's 17, what were you elite at when you were that age. Let me answer that, and I'm probably not going too far out on a limb, NOTHING!!!

Just to add to it, he's 17 AND 7'1". Good grief - I grew from about 5'7" to my 6'1" height over a 2-3 year period and during that time, could barely get around without whacking my head or other part of my body on furniture and what not. As others have said, enjoy the recruiting W, welcome the kid, and let the staff do their thing.

No one is calling him the next great thing. But I'm thrilled we got him. Lots of upside! This is a big deal no matter how you slice it. And BTW Okafor was about #100 coming out of HS. He turned out OK. Just ask JC...

 

[husky429]

Gotta remember Donovan is a year younger than most of the other kids in his class, too.

 

[CTFIRERETIRED]

Lol because your entire posting history is shatting on all things UConn. Be more miserable, you can’t.

maybe because the competition in LL Connecticut basketball is not like AAU competition. He chose to stay at Bristol Central, instead of going to a prep school and playing against tougher more talented players. I really hope no one expects this kid to be a space eater or dominant 5. We all can agree that dominant big men are few and far between. All or most all of these big men want to be perimeter players. Very few are low on the blocks players. It's just not the way a majority of teams play anymore. Gone is the dominant low post player. It's been replaced by the hybrid 4/5. You do not see players like Patrick Ewing, Shaq, Alonzo Mourning, Tim Duncan, David Robinson They are from another generation, and another time. As to "shatting" on all things UConn, even you can agree that other than the women's program, (yeah I know a sore subject here) football and basket ball are not what you call stellar. I will give men's b-ball a chance, since they have now gone back to where they belong, the Big East, from that hole of the American Conference. Football is another story. The program has been a train wreck for years. Spurred on by the state politics, and the promise that the Patriots were relocating to Hartford...........................LOL, football was rushed into D-1, when it was clearly not ready in any way shape or form. What's next for this program is anybody's guess. Will it turn itself into a Boise St. program, or a middle of the road also ran. I can guess that you are still digging through that horse stall, that's loaded with horse crap, looking for that pony. Good luck with that.

 

[Husky Alien]

Just to add to it, he's 17 AND 7'1". Good grief - I grew from about 5'7" to my 6'1" height over a 2-3 year period and during that time, could barely get around without whacking my head or other part of my body on furniture and what not. As others have said, enjoy the recruiting W, welcome the kid, and let the staff do their thing.

No one is calling him the next great thing. But I'm thrilled we got him. Lots of upside! This is a big deal no matter how you slice it. And BTW Okafor was about #100 coming out of HS. He turned out OK. Just ask JC...

My all time favorite interview with JC.