By Michael Letendre

Over the years, Connecticut has seen some of its instate student-athletes take their athletic talents to Boston, Memphis and even as far as the West Coast – all leaving the state in the process to pursue their collegiate dreams.

However, the University of Connecticut is trying to keep some of those athletes stateside and the sports programs over at the NCAA Division I institution have done a commendable job in keeping some of those familiar faces in Connecticut, competing here in the Nutmeg State.

UConn is a school of opportunity and, if good fortune – and maybe a little good luck – filters in as well, anything is possible up in Storrs in terms of conference and tournament success.

On the football and men’s basketball front, UConn has added some big (one very big) athletes from Bristol Central.

The duo of Victor Rosa and Donovan Clingan hope to add their vast talents to their respective programs and continue the trend of excellent student-athletes playing, and staying, home in Connecticut.

Rosa is ready for the pigskin challenge

UConn football head coach Jim Mora is hungry to unleash Rosa on the gridiron this year as the athlete has all the tools to be a contributor off the bat.

Rosa, the 2021 Connecticut Gatorade Football Player of the Year, had a tremendous senior campaign for the Rams as the program made a return trip to the postseason for the third time in program history (1979 and 1987).

He rushed for 2728 yards on 279 carries – running in 41 touchdowns over 11 action packed games as Central went a sterling 9-2 overall.

Rosa ran in twenty-four two-point conversions and also did his share of passing the ball from the quarterback position.

He connected on 59-of-92 tosses for 849 yards and eight touchdowns over a credible passing campaign.

Overall during his final season at Central, Rosa scooped up 3,577 yards from scrimmage, good for 49 touchdowns.

After that tremendous season at Central and a little coaching change at the University of Connecticut, Rosa is officially a member of the Huskies’ family.

Now, he’ll add a little depth to the charts at running back though Rosa could be used at multiple positions on both sides of the ball if Mora so chooses.

His versatility is hard to match.

Rosa enters as a first year competitor and at 5-foot-11, 198 pounds, and he will simply look to outwork everyone on the field.

He’ll wear No. 22 for the UConn program and has enough pop in his game to make some serious noise come gameday.

This is a position he’s been craving since hitting the scene over at Bristol Central, contributing immediately for the Rams.

Rebounding from a tough season

The Huskies went 1-11 last year with only a 21-15 victory against Yale – and old friend Dathan Hickey – back on October 16, a game that almost went south on UCONN late.

But the program is looking to bounce back in 2022 against another stacked schedule.

Rosa gets his first taste of collegiate action on Saturday, August 27 when UCONN travels to Utah State in Logan for a non-conference bout at 4 p.m.

And the Huskies open the home portion of its 2022 slate on Saturday, September 3 against Central Connecticut State University from Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field – starting at noon.

UConn stays home one week later as Syracuse comes to East Hartford on Saturday, September 10 ( 7 p.m.).

And the following two weeks, the Huskies are on the road for big bouts against Michigan (September 17, noon) and North Carolina State (September 24, TBD).

It should be an incredible season for Rosa and the University of Connecticut football program as the team looks to bounce back after a dismal 2021 campaign.

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