By Michael Letendre
It’s out of the pan and into the fire for Bristol Central boys basketball All-Stater Donovan Clingan.
And as soon as the extended winter scholastic season concluded this year, with the Rams winning their first Central Connecticut Conference title since 2003, Clingan was off and running with Team Spartans out of Boston.
The program is an AAU powerhouse, and the 2022 team is poised to be one of the best squads in the country.
The 17U team is stacked with several talented performers from all over the local area.
Clingan is one of the featured big men on the squad, playing alongside Northwest Catholic juniors Matt Curtis and Hayden Abdullah.
In fact, the entire team is made up of juniors – all slated to graduate in 2022.
And the Spartans schedule is stacked, which started with a little trip to Rhode Island last weekend.
Clingan and the Spartans opened the AAU season with a big 90-80 victory over the Rhode Island Elite on April 3 from Providence.
The 7-foot-1 center blasted the Rhode Island squad for 21 points, 15 rebounds, and six blocked shots.
It was the first game of many for the program which will compete into the summer months.
And then from April 9-11, Team Spartans battled several elite teams at the Hoop Group: Spring Jam Fest from Manheim, Pennsylvania.
The Spartans had a collective bullseye coming into tournament but the six squads the outfit played all drew losses.
The Boston based squad went a perfect 6-0 over the past weekend, defeating Diallo Elite of New York (73-53), NJ Panthers Yellow (68-46), 6th Man Sports (70-67), TEAM S.T.A.T. from Washington DC (64-50), Milbank, New York (77-62) and Team Thrill 16U of Maryland (67-54).
The HGSL Jam Fest saw over 100 college prospects in attendance and Clingan was one of the main attractions.
The Boston crew moved to 7-0 in 2021.
Later in the month, the Spartans travel to Texas for the M13 Spring Showcase from April 30-May 2.
It’s an invite only event which features programs from Texas, North Carolina, California and, of course, Massachusetts.
Twenty-four of the best teams in the nation will be squaring off at that special event.
Coming into the season, the AAU program from Boston is extremely high on the star from Bristol.
“Donovan Clingan is going to make a lot of noise this summer with TeamSpartans,” according to a Tweet from the Nationwide High School Basketball Recruiting Updates on April 5. “He moves great for his size, can finish with either hand, and is an elite shot blocker.”
Clingan helped lead Bristol Central to a perfect 15-0 record this past winter, averaging 27.3 points-per-game.
Over postseason play, Clingan picked up his game to another level, averaging an unworldly 33.7 points and 26.3 rebounds-per-game.
He dropped in a career-high 39 points in CCC first round play against Windsor on March 22.
Next season, Clingan has a chance to become the all-time leading scorer in Bristol scholastic history.
He’s currently being recruited by Maryland, Boston College, Iowa, UMASS, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Providence, South Carolina, Rutgers, Ohio State, the University of Connecticut, and Syracuse.
