It is a very good problem to have so many legends run through a program that is tough to rank them all, and UConn is lucky to have that issue on both the men’s and women’s sides of college basketball. However, after the men’s basketball team just won back-to-back national championships, the first time an overall No. 1 seed won the title since 2013 and the first time a team has won back-to-back since Florida’s run in 2006 and 2007, it brings up questions on the all-time status of their current roster.
Donovan Clingan came to UConn as a true freshman at 18 years-old and won back-to-back national titles with the team. Clingan also led Bristol Central to win the state championship when he was a senior in high school after an undefeated season. That makes three years in a row of championships for the sophomore center. He is a true winner and he showed that in just his first two years at UConn. So where does this put Clingan on the all-time Husky list?
UConn’s alumni list for men’s basketball is filled with, simply, legends. To name a few: Rip Hamilton, Kemba Walker, Emeka Okafor, Shabazz Napier, Ray Allen, Ben Gordon, Carson Butler, Donyell Marshall, Khalid El-Amin, Cliff Robinson, Rudy Gay and so many more, the list could go on forever. Even Clingan’s teammates Adama Sanogo and Tristen Newton are thrown onto that list after their dominance. Despite all that, Clingan has only been on the team for two seasons, while all these other players mentioned above played at Connecticut for a longer amount of time, giving them more time to have done great things in a UConn jersey. That is something that holds Clingan back from being in front of all these UConn greats.
One thing that this current UConn men’s basketball roster is known for is their unselfish stars. The Huskies had a stacked starting lineup with five players who it did not matter who scored, as long as UConn got the basketball in the hoop. This year in their starting five, the Huskies had freshman Stephon Castle, redshirt sophomore Alex Karaban, Cam Spencer, Tristen Newton and Clingan. That’s what made the team so special, they were all team players with an effective bench that ran deep. If it all comes down to one factor, it’s that Coach Dan Hurley knows how to build a championship-worthy team.
Getting back to Clingan, winning two national championships in two years is rare and an impressive thing to do coming out of high school less than two years ago. But like mentioned before, UConn has so many legendary players that it is hard to pinpoint where Clingan ranks among them. Last season, Clingan played in the shadow of Adama Sanogo who is now in the NBA and on the roster of the Chicago Bulls. As the center coming off the bench in the 2022-23 season, Clingan averaged 6.9 points per game with 5.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks. This year, DC had the primary starting center position and with that he averaged 13.0 points per game with 7.4 rebounds and 2.5 blocks. His stats are not commonly the best on the team, but Clingan brings more to UConn’s roster than just the statistics which is why his name should be put in the conversation more.
Back in February, Clingan was named a Top 10 candidate for the 2024 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award alongside other college centers like Purdue’s Zach Edey, Kansas’s Hunter Dickinson, North Carolina’s Armando Bacot, Auburn’s Johni Broome and more.
One of the main factors here is that Clingan is a Connecticut Native who contributed to two championship teams in his home-state and was as effective on defense as much as anyone in program history. Being from Connecticut adds to his story and legacy, but not necessarily where it ranks Clingan among the all-time list. But he was quietly one of the nation’s top players this season. His defense shut down opponents all season long, especially in the NCAA March Madness tournament; the Huskies silenced almost every opponent they faced. But more significantly, DC is a UConn legend and should be considered in the Top 20, maybe even the Top-15 list of all-time Huskies.
There has been so many surreal moments for Clingan in less than two years in Storrs, some being speaking to 40,000 fans at the Huskies national championship parade in Hartford, visiting the White House with his teammates, throwing the ceremonial first pitch at Fenway Park and so much more. His fame just as a student athlete goes beyond reaches of any other UConn legends that may pop into your head, it is just a different time with all that NIL offers now. What he accomplished in just two seasons at UConn is nothing short of incredible and will be remembered forever in the UConn books. Whether Clingan decides to move on from college and enter the NBA Draft or stay at UConn for another year, he will go down as one of the all-time greats.