NEW YORK — Connecticut center Donovan Clingan kept saying the same word over and over during his predraft media availability.
Crazy.
From how his past two years have unfolded, picking up two consecutive NCAA championships, to working out for the Hawks, who hold the top pick in this year’s NBA draft, it all has been crazy, he said.
“It was crazy,” Clingan said Tuesday. “It was a crazy feeling and just made me want to go out there and give everything I had, and that’s what I did for every workout. I’m just extremely blessed, extremely excited to be in this position and excited for (Wednesday) night.”
Clingan, a 20-year-old native of Bristol, Connecticut, is on the cusp of moving from his home state for the first time, but he’s ready for the next step and all that it holds.
“I mean, it’s crazy,” he said. “You’re 24 hours away from knowing where you’re gonna live for next four years of your life. You have no idea. So it’s kind of anxious. But I’m ready. I know I’m ready, and I’m really excited to see what’s next.”
His next home could be Atlanta, with a few draft analysts projecting the Hawks could take the 7-2 center Wednesday night. The team brought Clingan in for a workout earlier this month, and he said he gave it everything he had.
“It was a good workout,” Clingan said. “I feel like I was able to show everything I could do offensively and defensively at a high level. I feel like the athletic testing went very, very well. I shot the ball at very, very high level, and you know, it was very good in the ball screen, low game on offense and on defense. So I feel like the workout went well, and we’ll see (Wednesday).”
He also has gotten some inside information on what it could be like to be tutored by Hawks coach Quin Snyder. Clingan’s coach at Connecticut, Dan Hurley, said in an interview earlier this month that he had a conversation with Snyder about the center. Hurley also provided his former player with intel on Snyder.
“I just feel like he likes the (basketball) IQ, and I feel like I have a pretty high IQ with the level of my level of knowledge on the offensive end,” he said. “So I feel like that’s something that they liked.”
While Clingan, who has dreamed of playing in the NBA since middle school, has his eyes set on competing. He has admired the centers currently dominating the NBA, and he said he can’t wait to go toe-to-toe with them.
“Everyone,” he said when asked which player may leave him in awe after playing against them during his rookie season. “I feel like it’s just crazy just to be in the NBA. That’s gonna be a dream come true, a blessing. But I’m a competitor. I want to play against (Nikola) Jokic. I want to play against (Joel) Embiid and all those guys, and I want to play against the best of the best because that’s how you get better. That’s how you learn, and I’m just so excited to compete.”
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