By Michael Letendre
The UConn men’s basketball team earned several end of the season awards this past Sunday.
The BIG EAST announced its winners in a press release on Sunday which included an honor for its 7-foot-2 center from Bristol.
UConn freshmen Donovan Clinging, along with redshirt Alex Karaban, were named to the 2022-23 BIG EAST All-Freshman Team.
Clingan has put together a tremendous campaign as a first-year player for the Huskies.
The center led UConn in blocked shots (1.8 per game) and field goal percentage (65.7).
Clingan scored 7.3 points and scooped in 5.8 rebounds in only 13.6 minutes-per-game this season, scoring in double figures nine times.
The former All-Starter from Bristol Central chipped in four double-doubles over a busy campaign.
He scored a game-high 15 points and added 10 rebounds for his first career double-double as UConn dropped Iowa State, 71-53, to win the Phil Knight Invitational tournament championship.
And for his efforts, Clingan was voted the Most Valuable Player of the PKI tournament, helping UConn defeat Oregon, Alabama and Iowa.
Over the three-game tournament, Clingan averaged 9.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks-per-game.
He shot .611 from the field and tallied three steals over the West Coast jaunt.
Against LIU on December 10, Clingan was nearly unstoppable as he dropped in a season-high 21 points on 10-of-10 shooting from the field.
Clingan also nabbed 11 rebounds over that 114-61 triumph, raising his season averages to 10.5 points and 6.9 rebounds-per-game to that point of the year.
He earned Freshman of the Week honors on two separate occasions this year.
Karaban added 9.7 points and 4.4 rebounds-per-game while shooting three-pointers at a .397 clip.
The All-Freshman team from the BIG EAST includes Cam Whitmore (Villanova), AJ Storr (St. John’s), Mark Armstrong (Villanova), and Desmond Claude (Xavier) along with Karaban and Clingan.
The freshmen were a big reason why UConn went 24-7 overall, 13-7 in Big East play this year – earning a No. 11 ranking this past week in the latest polls.
The team is currently on a five-game winning streak, going 15-2 from home this year between Gamble Pavilion and the XL Center, with the biggest games of the year taking place from New York.
The Big East Tournament from Madison Square Garden is on tap for the Huskies on March 9.
In the second game in quarterfinal play, the fourth ranked Huskies battles No. 5 Providence from MSG at 2:30 p.m.
Also earning end of season recognition was junior Adama Sanogo and sophomore Jordan Hawkins.
The duo was named to the All-BIG EAST First Team.
Sanogo averaged 16.9 points-per-game and is in line to be the BIG EAST Player of the Year while Hawkins led the BIG EAST in scoring this season, dropping in 17.3 ppg.
2022-23 BIG EAST All-Freshman Team
Donovan Clingan, UConn
Alex Karaban, UConn
AJ Storr, St. John’s
Mark Armstrong, Villanova
Cam Whitmore, Villanova
Desmond Claude, Xavier
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