Donovan Clingan needed to contend for a three-peat, however Dan Hurley was having none of it.
The previous UConn star helped the Huskies to a second straight nationwide championship earlier this 12 months.
For a second straight 12 months, the Huskies received each match recreation by double-digits and received their sixth title in class historical past.
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UConn head coach Dan Hurley celebrates with heart Donovan Clingan, left, after defeating Illinois in an Elite 8 recreation within the NCAA Event March 30, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photograph/Michael Dwyer)
The large man cemented himself as not only a lottery choose, however a top-10 choice within the draft together with his efficiency within the match, averaging 15.3 factors and eight.3 rebounds per recreation.
Clingan spent two seasons at UConn, and he was searching for a 3rd title.
However Hurley knocked some sense into him.
“I went into Coach Hurley’s workplace, and I used to be like, ‘Yo coach, I’ll come again. I’ll go for an additional one.’ He’s like ‘You’re out of your thoughts, bro. Get the hell out of right here.’ And I assume I needed to go,” Clingan instructed the “Knuckleheads Podcast,” hosted by ex-NBA gamers Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles.
Donovan Clingan of the Connecticut Huskies reacts within the second half towards the Purdue Boilermakers in the course of the nationwide championship recreation at State Farm Stadium April 8, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (Christian Petersen/Getty Pictures)
“It was most likely like 4 days after we had received the title, however you understand I used to be unhappy. I didn’t wish to go away that place. I like UConn, Coach Hurley, the employees, the folks round me and my teammates. Each time I stroll in that constructing, it’s dwelling. I went again twice final week, and I nonetheless really feel like I’m a part of the crew.”
Clingan went seventh to the Portland Path Blazers Thursday night time. The 7-foot-2 shot-altering stud averaged 13 factors, 7.4 rebounds and a couple of.5 blocks per recreation final season for the Huskies, increasing his offensive abilities to enhance his dominant protection.
He’ll now share a frontcourt with Deandre Ayton and Jerami Grant, together with final 12 months’s second general choose, Scoot Henderson.
Donovan Clingan smiles after being drafted seventh general by the Portland Path Blazers in the course of the 2024 NBA Draft June 26, 2024, at Barclays Middle in Brooklyn, N.Y. (Evan Yu/NBAE by way of Getty Pictures)
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Portland completed final within the Western Convention final 12 months at 21-61 after parting methods with Damian Lillard.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
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