Dick Weiss on College Basketball
GLENDALE, Ariz. — You wanted it. You got it. UConn’s 7-2 sophomore Donovan Clingan v Purdue’s 7-4 senior Zach Edey, Monday night for the NCAA championship. both should go in first round. Question: Could Clingan be the first pick in the NBA draft? there were moments in the second half of huskies’ win over Alabama he looked the part.
Edey, a two-time national Player of the Year may have the better college resume, but a growing number of NBA scouts think Clingan– who has been affectionately nicknamed “Cling Kong” by UConn fans– will be the better pro.
Clingan scored 18 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and blocked four shots as the Huskies defeated Alabama, 86-72, to set up an epic championship game against Purdue in the NCAA championship game here Monday night. He was the dynamic game changer on the court when the Huskies broke free from a 56-56 tie to win another tournament game by double digits.
Edey had 20 points and 12 rebounds in Purdue’s workmanlike 63-50 semi-final victory over NC State and completely took DJ Burns– who had just eight points and 1 rebound– out of the game.
“It will be a battle of giants,” UConn coach Danny Hurley said.
Most fans assumed Clingan might not be here after the Huskies defeated San Diego State to win the 2023 national championship. There was talk of him being a late lottery pick because GM tend to select on upside potential.
But Clingan knew he wasn’t ready to make the quantum leap and admitted as much to Hurley in a post season meeting. He was a talented, but still unfinished backup to 6-9 All America Adama Sanogo as a freshman. He played an average of 13 minutes, averaging a modest 6.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks.
“There wasn’t a meeting with an agent and a series of drama, you know,” Hurley said. “He was a special kid.”
Now, almost a year later, Clingan has blossomed into the biggest impact player on the Huskies, who are on the verge of history, trying to be the first team since Florida in 2006 and 2007 to win back-to-back national championships.
If UConn wins, the Huskies can make a serious argument for being the best team in that Big East school’s glorious history.
They are better than last year after losing three players– Sanogo, Stephon Jackson and Jordan Hawkins– to the NBA.
And Clingan is one of the biggest reasons.
“He’s grown up,” Hurley said. “He wasn’t ready last year, just as a man, or as a young man. He was a big kid last year who could not survive in the NBA world, in those locker room, which are not very nurturing. He needed this year of development and growth.”
He’s worked to become a more well-rounded player. His offense isn’t there yet, but he is shooting 35 for 53 in the tournament with 18 blocks and has become the anchor of a lock down defense that is ranked ninth in scoring defense and was punctuated it with a mind-blowing defensive effort, holding BIG tournament champion Illinois scoreless for 50 minutes in real time during a 30-0 run in the East Region finals at Boston. Clingan had 10 rebounds and five blocked shots against the Illinois and was named Most Outstanding Player in the Region after a 77-52 victory.
Clingan’s 7-7 wingspan and his presence near the rim gives the Huskies’ backcourt the freedom to aggressively defend the perimeter and helped freshman Stephon Castle the ability to play chest to chest defense on Illinois All-America guard Terrence Shannon Jr, who only scored 8 points on 2 for 12 shooting. Overall, Illinois scored just 15 points with Clingan on the floor, missing 22 of 25 attempts from two- point range.
The Clingan-Edey matchup should be epic. It is the first national championship game to feature two identifiable big man since Patrick Ewing of Georgetown and Hakeem Olajuwon of Houston in 1984 in a Final Four that also featured 7-1 Sam Bowie and 6-11 Melvin Turpin of Kentucky.
Edey, who has a 7-10 wingspan, has been the dominant college player in the country for the last two years. He came back for his senior year because he wanted to be in this moment after the Boilermakers fell apart in Sweet 16 and first round losses to 15th seed St. Peter’s and 16th seed FDU the previous two years.
Edey, who is averaging 28 points in the tournament and had 40 against Tennessee in the region final, knows how to draw fouls and gets to the line an average of 11 times a game. But NC State used an innovative game plan to slow Edey down They rarely left Purdue shooters but when Edey began dribbling, at least one Wolfpack defender would come back to attack the dribble and 6-10 Ben Middlebrooks would attempt to guard Edey’s hands. Edey had five turnovers.
Alabama attempted to flatten its defense to defend Clingan in the post, daring Castle to shoot. Castle scored 21 points and got support from everyone else. Clingan shot 8 for 14.
Edey has been able to stay out of foul trouble It will be interesting to see how UConn reacts if he gets Clingan in early foul trouble, but the Huskies do have a viable option in 6-10 backup Samson Johnson, a human pogo stick who is effective close to the rim.
It should be fun to see a championship game where big men play such an important role.
