Ex-Illini Forward Coleman Hawkins Claims Illinois Made UConn's Donovan Clingan Into Top-5 NBA Draft Pick

Anthony Pasciolla | Jun 19, 2024

Mar 30, 2024; Boston, MA, USA; Connecticut Huskies guard Cam Spencer (12) shoots the ball on Illinois Fighting Illini forward Coleman Hawkins (33) in the finals of the East Regional of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports / Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA Draft is on the horizon, but the top picks in the class remain unsorted.

Former UConn Huskies center Donovan Clingan is viewed as a consensus top-5 selection after strong outings in the NCAA Tournament. One of his most notable performances came against the Illinois Fighting Illini, where he recorded 22 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks, and three steals on 9 of 13 shooting. Ex-Illini forward Coleman Hawkins believes he and the team are to thank for Clingan's rise in draft stock.

"Hey man, made him into a top-5 pick so he can thank us," Hawkins said on the Sleepers Media podcast.

How many more chances would Illinois have needed to beat UConn last season?

Coleman Hawkins (@colehawk23) admits the ‘gameplan’ was the problem, but adds his answer…

“If we played them one more time, we would have beat them” pic.twitter.com/Kt316WVloX

— Sleepers Media 💤🏀 (@SleepersMedia) June 19, 2024

The Illini played well for most of the first half against the Huskies, and then they were on the receiving end of one of the most perfect stretches in tournament history. The Huskies went on a 30-0 run on the way to victory and eventually winning their second straight national title the following weekend.

Hawkins, who is now at Kansas State, says the team failed to make the proper adjustments once the run started. He feels things would have changed if that happened.

"I'm at the five and the whole point of me being at the five is to create advantages offensively," Hawkins said. "We didn't create any advantages offensively. We were at 23 points or whatever at half. I was standing in the corner for a whole half. This is just me being real. I definitely would've switched up our gameplan somehow, some way."

Anthony Pasciolla is a contributor for Illini Now. He can be reached at ampasciolla@gmail.com or on Instagram @anthony.pasciolla.