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UConn sophomore Donovan Clingan has declared for the 2024 NBA Draft, he announced via social media Friday.
Clingan, a 7-foot-2 center, played a pivotal role in the Huskies back-to-back championships and is a projected first-round pick in this summer’s draft. In The Athletic’s pre-NCAA Tournament mock draft, Clingan was slotted as the No. 11 pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder — and that was before he had 22 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks in the win against Illinois in the Elite Eight. He followed that performance with 18 points, five rebounds and five blocks in a Final Four victory versus Alabama.
“First and foremost, BACK TO BACK national championships is legendary!” Clingan said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “These past two years have exceeded all my dreams and expectations. I will be forever grateful for the memories created with all my brothers, and I’ll cherish every moment forever!
“With that being said, I’ll be pursuing the lifelong dream of mine to play in the NBA and will be entering my name in the 2024 NBA Draft!!”
💙 #32 Out pic.twitter.com/tpD1stCWe5
— Donovan Clingan (@clingan_donovan) April 12, 2024
In UConn’s national championship win over Purdue, Clingan — playing in foul trouble — finished with 11 points, as the Connecticut native never contributed less than 11 points in all of the Huskies’ six tournament victories.
Clingan averaged 13.0 points and 7.4 rebounds a game over the 2023-24 season.
He suffered a foot injury in late December and that caused him to miss roughly one month and five games. Upon his return, the Huskies dominated, closing out the season with 13 consecutive wins.
Throughout the 2024 tournament, Clingan surged, boasting averages of 15.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game, all-surpassing his regular-season stats. Notably, he recorded a career-best eight blocks in a second-round victory against Northwestern. His 19 blocks in the NCAA Tournament were the most since 2016.
The NBA Draft is June 26-27 in New York City.
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(Photo: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
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