Donovan Clingan Makes First Overall Pick Case In Elite Eight Victory

The young center shined as UConn earned their spot in the Final Four.

Mar 30, 2024; Boston, MA, USA; Connecticut Huskies center Donovan Clingan (32) reacts against the / Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

Coming into Saturday night’s Elite Eight game against Illinois, the defending champion UConn Huskies served as 8.5-point favorites. This may seem like a large spread for an Elite Eight matchup, but it actually proved too narrow as the Huskies destroyed the Illini by 25 points.

UConn was led by sophomore center Donovan Clingan, who scored 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field and grabbed 10 rebounds. However, his defense was more instrumental to his monstrous impact that led UConn to win by 28 points in Clingan’s 22 minutes of game action. He notched three steals and rejected five shots while fortifying the rim with many other stifling contests.

As a whole, UConn shut Iliinois’ top-ranked offense behind Clingan’s interior presence. His rim protection ability is one, if not the, most intriguing skills in all of the 2024 NBA Draft. Standing at 7-foot-2 with a 7-foot-7 wingspan, the 20-year-old big man has the range to alter oodles of shot attempts within the arc. Illinois star slasher Terrence Shannon Jr. struggled to get any buckets in Clingan’s paint. 

In a 2024 class lacking a consensus top pick, the spot is wide open for the taking for Clingan. His defense is arguably the best side of the ball amongst any prospect as well as the strongest star foundation across this pool of players. There’s a good chance that Clingan’s rim protection is so dominant at the NBA level that he develops into an NBA All-Defense type of player. While prospects like Alexander Sarr, Ron Holland, and Zachary Rissacher are often in potential first overall pick talks, maybe the true top prospect is sitting in clear view on college basketball’s leading squad.

At least, Clingan deserves some mention in these conversations. 

Clingan initially made tremendous noise down the stretch of last year’s tournament off the bench. He’ll have the chance to do something similar now as the Huskies’ star. UConn will face off against Alabama next Saturday as Clingan and his team look to return to the National Championship game for the second consecutive season.

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