By Michael Letendre
Bristol Central’s Donovan Clingan continues to pile up several offseason awards.
And after a perfect scholastic season in 2021 – winning the CCC Tournament championship along the way – Clingan was named the Connecticut boys basketball Gatorade Player of the Year on June 4.
The 7-foot-1 center helped lead his squad at Central to a 15-0 ledger as the Rams rolled through all the top squads of the Central Connecticut Conference before the season was complete.
Clingan averaged 27.3 points, 17.2 rebounds, 5.8 blocks and 3.1 assists on his way to the Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year Award.
For his career, Clingan has over 1,400 points and 1,000 rebounds as he looks to become the all-time leading scorer and rebounder in Bristol scholastic history next season.
And several different recruiting reports have Clingan in or near the top of the scholastic rankings.
247Sports.com has the talented Clingan ranked No. 8 at center and is the No. 53 overall prospect for the class of 2022.
ESPN.com has the third year player ranked at No. 44 as the four-star recruit has narrowed his collegiate options to eight institutions.
Michigan, Georgetown, Providence, Rutgers, UCONN and Syracuse are in the mix as Clingan will visit all those schools before making his ultimate decision.
Clingan is also a finalists for Gatorade National Player of the Year Award as several senior players are up for the award, including Gonzaga recruit Chet Holmgren.
The award winner will be announced next week as the junior from Bristol is looking to snare the prize away from several top senior prospects.
Here is the complete list of Gatorade State Player of the Year from the other states this year:
State – Name
Alabama – Barry Dunning
Alaska – Patrick McMahon
Arizona – Dylan Anderson
Arkansas – Derrian Ford
Colorado – Julian Hammond III
Connecticut – Donovan Clingan
Delaware – Nnanna Njoku
Florida – Caleb Houstan
Georgia – Jabari Smith
Hawaii – O’Shen Cazimero
Idaho – Brody Rowbury
Illinois – Max Christie
Indiana – Caleb Furst
Iowa – Tucker DeVries
Kansas – Kennedy Chandler
Kentucky – Sam Vinson
Louisiana – Carlos Stewart
Maine – Cash McClure
Maryland – Jordan Hawkins
Massachusetts – Kyle Filipowski
Michigan – Pierre Brooks II
Minnesota – Chet Holmgren
Mississippi – Daeshun Ruffin
Missouri – Aminu Mohammed
Montana – Drew Wyman
Nebraska -Hunter Sallis
Nevada – Jaden Hardy
New Hampshire – Alex Karaban
New Jersey – D.J. Wagner
New Mexico – William “Deuce” Benjamin
New York – Jordan Riley
North Carolina – Terquavion Smith
North Dakota – Joe Hurlburt
Ohio – Chris Livingston
Oklahoma – Trey Alexander
Pennsylvania – Stevie Mitchell
Rhode Island – Matt Constant
South Carolina – Bryce McGowens
South Dakota – Matthew Mors
Tennessee – Brandon Miller
Texas – Daimion Collins
Utah – Nolan Hickman
Vermont – Michel Ndayishimiye
Virginia – Trevor Keels
Washington D.C. – Quincy Allen
West Virginia – Isaac McKneely
Wisconsin – Brandin Podziemski
Wyoming – Sam Lecholat
