Michigan Basketball secures key visit from top 2022 target
Four-star center Donovan Clingan is one of Michigan basketball’s top targets in the class of 2022 and according to reports, he will visit the Wolverines.
While it got lost in the shuffle of the Hunter Dickinson announcement that he will enter the NBA draft, there was some important news regarding Michigan basketball recruiting and the visit of one top target in particular.
That’s four-star center Donovan Clingan, who like Dickinson, is a 7-foot-1 big man. He’s from Connecticut and according to a report from Chris Balas of The Wolverine (subscription required), Clingan will be taking an official visit to Ann Arbor in June.
Clingan is ranked as the No. 41 overall prospect in the 2022 class according to the 247 sports composite rankings and outside of Jalen Duren, who most believe will go pro instead of playing in college, Clingan is the top guy at center.
While the in-state school, UConn is making a strong push and is seen by some of the favorite, Michigan basketball has at least pulled even, in large part, because of what Juwan Howard can offer.
Juwan is known for his work with big guys and as far as Clingan goes, the Hunter Dickinson comparison couldn’t be more ideal.
Clingan may not be as polished or as old as Dickinson, but he’s a really skilled big guy and if Dickinson plays next season, Clingan would be the perfect plug-and-play replacement.
Michigan basketball offers the perfect role
That’s another reason why Michigan offers so much. The 7-footer is a back-to-the-basket big guy. Like Dickinson, he’s an old-school big and during his first two seasons on the job, Juwan has shown a willingness to play through bigs, while taking advantage of size inside.
It worked perfectly last season as Dickinson opened up the floor for everyone else by constantly drawing double teams. And if opponents didn’t double, most of the time, he made them pay.
During his first season as head coach, Howard and the Wolverines tried to feed the ball inside to Jon Teske, but his post-up game wasn’t as refined.
Even though Dickinson has declared for the draft, I still expect him back for one more season. He’ll likely be gone for good after 2021-22 but in terms of recruiting Clingan, that’s actually perfect.
dark. Next. Michigan's ideal 2022 class
Being able to offer that role could be the difference between landing his commitment and missing out. So even if next year is Dickinson’s last in Ann Arbor, it won’t be all bad if Juwan can land the 7-footer out of Connecticut.