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Pete Thamel, ESPN
GLENDALE, Ariz. — The UConn basketball team is on the cusp of its second consecutive national title. And perhaps more impressive, it would mark the program’s sixth overall title since 1999.
If the No. 1 overall seed Huskies can topple fellow No. 1 seed Purdue on Monday night, they’d become the sport’s first back-to-back champion since Florida in 2006 and 2007.
Few can appreciate that history more than sophomore center Donovan Clingan, who grew up in Bristol, Conn., which is less than an hour from UConn’s Storrs campus.
“It would mean a lot to a lot of people,” Clingan said Sunday at the Final Four. “It’s history. You come to UConn to make history. It’s a hard school to make history at, but everyone in this locker room realizes what’s at stake.”
Everyone in college basketball knows that Clingan will be the centerpiece of Monday night’s most anticipated match-up. The collision of the 7-foot-2, 280-pound Clingan and the 7-foot-4 300-pound Edey is a generational big-man clash.
The title game on Monday night will feature the rarity of two 7-footers starting against each other in a national title game. Clingan and Edey will join Georgetown’s Patrick Ewing and Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwon in 1984 as the only other matchups of starting 7-footers in a title game in NCAA Tournament history.
Edey has been so dominant in the NCAA tournament that it was amusing to hear he and Purdue coach Matt Painter cast Edey’s 20-point and 12-rebound performance against NC State as milquetoast. “Those numbers are very average for him,” Painter said.
Clingan played well against Alabama with 18 points, five rebounds and four blocks. When he came on the court for warm-ups, he had his right hand taped up after injuring it in practice earlier in the week. On Sunday, he said he’s uncertain if he’ll wear that wrap again on Monday night.
“I’m not sure,” Clingan said. “I’ll see how it feels. I just try to wear the pad over it just to protect it from getting hit again. But there’s no pain really. Just trying to protect it.”
Edey is the two-time defending National Player of the Year. He and Clingan have never met, but they did pass each other at an early season tournament in Oregon in 2022. “I walked by him and I was like, ‘Wow,'” Clingan said. “I got a lot of respect for Zach.”
Clingan said he aims to take a “killer mindset” into the game, and both centers acknowledged some appreciation for post play being the center of conversation.
“People kind of try to discount that and act like it wasn’t important for a while, but being able to rebound, being able to score inside, have that inside presence is always going to be an important thing in basketball,” Edey said.
Edey highlighted how Clingan runs the floor, showcases good hands and plays physical. Clingan appreciated how Edey seals off defenders, finishes with both hands and acknowledged that he can’t get in foul trouble.
Both were excited to recount their chance encounters with Shaquille O’Neal this weekend, as one of the last generation’s definitive big men was sitting front row on Saturday. Both are excited that the basketball conversation is steered toward the post nuances of that era.
“I mean I feel like it just shows the role of the big man and how much of an impact they have on the teams,” Clingan said. “Zach’s been the most dominant player, one of the most dominant players in the country, for the past two years and his team has done very well, and I just feel like people don’t see these bigs as impactful just because we’re not knocking down threes every two possessions.”