New Clingan Video

[husky429]

Its settled. The BY will put him on a bus and send him down to Oak Hill. Next agenda item.

We both know Donovan Clingan can't fit in a standard bus seat. We can at least get the kid an uber XL.

 

[OldBosd]

You've gotta take him on the upside alone.

The way Hurley's been recruiting, we're not putting all our eggs in one basket anyway. If he's a bust, we have two other guys at his position who can carry the load. We have 13 scholarships, there is no risk here.

It's hard to imagine him being a bust and not contributing at least some minutes.

Whaley looked like a bust and then he looked like our best player in some stretches.

 

[tzznandrew]

I think the critiques of Clingan's tape are fair, as are the critiques that he is playing against subpar competition. @Fishy the kid could could up his level of competition and play against kids closer to his size and certainly more talented than him if he wanted to, and the fact that he doesn't is worth note.

I also think there are real reasons to want this kid. He definitely has real promise. Further, he's a local kid. Even if we thought he'd only be a very four year player--rather than a 5-star first one-and-done--there value in locking down your region. Frankly, he's probably going to be somewhere in between.

I think we want him on the team for a variety of reasons--not least because he can very well be a dominating force--but @polycom has some points.

 

[husky429]

I think the critiques of Clingan's tape are fair, as are the critiques that he is playing against subpar competition. @Fishy the kid could could up his level of competition and play against kids closer to his size and certainly more talented than him if he wanted to, and the fact that he doesn't is worth note.

I also think there are real reasons to want this kid. He definitely has real promise. Further, he's a local kid. Even if we thought he'd only be a very four year player--rather than a 5-star first one-and-done--there value in locking down your region. Frankly, he's probably going to be somewhere in between.

I think we want him on the team for a variety of reasons--not least because he can very well be a dominating force--but @polycom has some points.

No reasonable person is going to say Poly doesn't make decent points. Of course, the lower level of competition and some bad habits are a concern overall. The issue is that he refuses to acknowledge any of the obvious positives and derails EVERY thread with the same tired points, hyperbole, and combativeness. I'm not putting someone on ignore that disagrees with me. I ignored the clown because of his inability to have a reasonable basketball conversation.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Donovan's national-level high-major offers and rankings from multiple services speak volumes.

 

[UConnKev]

 

[husky429]

Rodney Rice commented. Who wants to read too much into it with me?

 

[ToolzieFan]

Rodney Rice commented. Who wants to read too much into it with me?

So did Javonte Brown. Let’s all read too much into both comments.

 

[Huskyforlife]

And Kyle cuffe

 

[Chantry1101]

I've watched the Spartans practice and seen him lead a 3v2 break, dribble behind his back when a guard reached in for a steal and make a bounce pass to a teammate for a wide-open layup. I've seen him hit cutters out of the post and pass to the opposite corner for open 3's out of the post. He even has a decent 3 point shot. He's not fast, but he works very hard running the floor.

Is he perfect/NBA ready? No, but he's very, very good. His size is very, very rare. Combine that size with good athleticism/BB IQ and skill and that is incredibly rare. Also, he's 16.

I saw him against a 6'10" RI kid and he dominated him, granted he had 50 lbs on the kid. He blows up your scope of size. Big 6'9" kids look small next to him. He has a teammate they list at 6'8" 210 and he looks like a child next to Donovan. What you don't see in the highlight videos is they let smaller guys grab and hack at him like crazy with few foul calls, he handles that amazingly well. Playing against bigger, better players will help in that respect.

The New Haven Heat team that his team blew out in that Battle of NE AAU game would have been undefeated in CT Public HS basketball. Mason Romano, Kazell Stewart and some other very good players were on that team.

 

[UConnKev]

And Roddy Gayle

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

His hand size makes a basketball look like normal male players playing with a women's size ball.

 

[Mooch82]

This is awesome. Based on the comments it looks like we're a lock to get Rice, Cuffe, Gayle, Karaban, as well as a Jalen Warley decommit from FSU and flip to the good guys in the spring. Really exciting stuff.

 

[Jbirdp5]

Most kids his size would be laboring up and down the court and look awkward moving, the fact that he’s so fluid and well coordinated shows he special he is.

 

[pj]

Reminds me a bit of Andrew Bynum. He's not only tall and long, he's thick and strong. He is coordinated and can move.

High ceiling for sure. If he loves the game, he'll go far. Hope we land him.

 

[PAHusky]

Kid is better than a high school Aaron Gray, who also played public school ball. And I’d gladly take an Aaron Gray.

Gray went to Emmaus, my high school's biggest rival. I'd say the competition was probably overall better than what Clingan is facing but Clingan is pretty far advanced compared to Gray, at least from the highlights I've seen.

 

[UCDaveD]

DCling is a monster. Would love to land him.

 

[Mr. French]

Competition or not, I'm shocked anyone would see anything in his game that doesn't excite you ... there's not a 16 year old on the planet that's a perfect player, but he's got every tool you'd look for in a kid his age and size.

It's not always easy to project a kid at 14-16 whether they'll be D1, mid major, high major ... I remember seeing Roddy Gayle and knew he'd be a stud but wasn't positive he'd have this level of offers at this age. And again, I knew he'd be a stud, D-1 for sure, but I didn't KNOW he'd be a top 50 national player by his sophomore year. It's not always easy to project.

I don't see a single thing about Clingan that makes me question whether he's a high major prospect.

 

[mauconnfan]

Funny someone said something like "he brings it down too much wait until he plays against people who will take advantage of that". Well smaller kids can't get the ball where he will end with it so they are always reaching now, trying to flip down when he comes back up. There are times in order to make a move, a power move especially you have to bring it down a bit anyway. He has some things to work on no doubt but if you don't see the many positives outweigh the negatives you aren't watching very closely.

And enough with the public school crap. Great players and good players alike back in the day played against their own leagues and never prep'd. I played against Corny Thompson in HS and even guarded him. Imagine him trying to prep for UConn playing again me and my other bug guy at 6'2"????? LOL His whole league was small and they won about 80 in a row because he dominated smaller players He ended up ok. Clingan will be fine, he's doing what he wants for his family, his mom can we leave that one alone and commend him for it rather than the opposite. Geez man!

 

[MDHuskFan]

Funny someone said something like "he brings it down too much wait until he plays against people who will take advantage of that". Well smaller kids can't get the ball where he will end with it so they are always reaching now, trying to flip down when he comes back up. There are times in order to make a move, a power move especially you have to bring it down a bit anyway. He has some things to work on no doubt but if you don't see the many positives outweigh the negatives you aren't watching very closely.

And enough with the public school crap. Great players and good players alike back in the day played against their own leagues and never prep'd. I played against Corny Thompson in HS and even guarded him. Imagine him trying to prep for UConn playing again me and my other bug guy at 6'2"????? LOL His whole league was small and they won about 80 in a row because he dominated smaller players He ended up ok. Clinton will be fine, he's doing what he wants for his family, his mom can we leave that one alone and commend him for it rather than the opposite. Geez man!

Bill?

 

[Chantry1101]

And enough with the public school crap. Great players and good players alike back in the day played against their own leagues and never prep'd. I played against Corny Thompson in HS and even guarded him. Imagine him trying to prep for UConn playing again me and my other bug guy at 6'2"????? LOL His whole league was small and they won about 80 in a row because he dominated smaller players He ended up ok. Clinton will be fine, he's doing what he wants for his family, his mom can we leave that one alone and commend him for it rather than the opposite. Geez man!

Times have changed since Corny Thompson's days. Will this kid be fine at Bristol? Sure. Would he be better prepared to play at UConn or wherever if he transferred someplace like Northfield Mt Hermon? Absolutely, tremendously better. How many players on UConn's roster graduated from public high schools? Go look at a D3 roster like Trinity College - most of those kids did not go to public schools.

 

[BGesus4]

Competition or not, I'm shocked anyone would see anything in his game that doesn't excite you ... there's not a 16 year old on the planet that's a perfect player, but he's got every tool you'd look for in a kid his age and size.

It's not always easy to project a kid at 14-16 whether they'll be D1, mid major, high major ... I remember seeing Roddy Gayle and knew he'd be a stud but wasn't positive he'd have this level of offers at this age. And again, I knew he'd be a stud, D-1 for sure, but I didn't KNOW he'd be a top 50 national player by his sophomore year. It's not always easy to project.

I don't see a single thing about Clingan that makes me question whether he's a high major prospect.

At his size, if he was fully polished and had elite athleticism, we wouldn't be having this conversation because he'd be a top 3 prospect and looking to get a pro contract of some sort ASAP.

As it stands, he has a world of potential. We all know bigs develop late, and this kid is huge and very skilled at the age of 16!! Imagine what college conditioning and weight training alone would do for his ability right now, let alone two more years of physical maturity.

 

[Greedo]

Gray went to Emmaus, my high school's biggest rival. I'd say the competition was probably overall better than what Clingan is facing but Clingan is pretty far advanced compared to Gray, at least from the highlights I've seen.

Did you go to Parkland? I went to Emmaus, so when I think 7’ teenager I think Gray. I’d agree the competition was probably better. But like you said Clingan looks more advanced at his age.

 

[mauconnfan]

Bill?

Thanks my iMac made a fool of me again. Clingan, Clinton, Epstein whatever

 

[PAHusky]

Did you go to Parkland? I went to Emmaus, so when I think 7’ teenager I think Gray. I’d agree the competition was probably better. But like you said Clingan looks more advanced at his age.

I did go to Parkland, small world. I remember Gray as obviously dominant in HS but was always pleasantly surprised by how he carved out a pretty nice career as a role player in the NBA before that unfortunate heart condition. Clingan seems to move a bit more fluidly but again could just be cherry picked highlights.

 

[mauconnfan]

Times have changed since Corny Thompson's days. Will this kid be fine at Bristol? Sure. Would he be better prepared to play at UConn or wherever if he transferred someplace like Northfield Mt Hermon? Absolutely, tremendously better. How many players on UConn's roster graduated from public high schools? Go look at a D3 roster like Trinity College - most of those kids did not go to public schools.

Pretty sure I know the difference between Trinity and UConn but thanks for the update. Times have changed no doubt, my point remains the same though. Corny played vs bad basketball teams for 4 years and was a great college basketball player. I'm sure we can find many many more so while the prep route would be great he will be fine. DC can do the same plus his AAU work in the summer is much more than Corny had back in the day for his summer routines. He will need work on certain areas no matter where he plays but he will be very coachable and prepared. I like his values being strong to not do what everyone else thinks he needs to. This says a lot also, like the kid a ton and hope he ventures into Storrs as a home state kid, would be fun as hell to root for him.