Portland Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan entered the postgame locker room Sunday evening with a smile and some swagger.
“We’re back where we belong!” the towering 7-footer trumpeted to anybody who would listen.
The Blazers had just taken care of the depleted Washington Wizards 123-88 at Moda Center, but that wasn’t the win Clingan was celebrating. He was talking about his beloved alma mater, the UConn Huskies, who defeated Duke 73-72 in an instant classic about two hours earlier in the NCAA Men’s
Basketball Tournament in Washington, D.C.
The Huskies advanced to the Final Four with the win, and they punched their ticket with a miraculous last-second triple that’ll live on forever in March Madness highlights. So, of course, Clingan — a UConn legend and superfan after winning two straight titles at the school in 2023 and 2024 — was high on the moment and letting people know.
“That’s all he talks about in between games,” Blazers forward Toumani Camara said with a grin. “ … You cannot have UConn winning a game and not hear about [it from] DC.”
The UConn-Duke game overlapped with the Blazers-Wizards game, so Clingan couldn’t watch most of the Elite Eight matchup. However, as Clingan walked from the locker room to the court during halftime in Portland, he realized Duke was inbounding the ball with 10 seconds left, ahead 72-70. With a free moment before he had to get back to work, Clingan enlisted help from a Blazers security guard named Phil.
“I saw there was 10 seconds left,” Clingan said. “It was a two-point game, so when I went on the court, Phil, a security guy, had it on his phone, and I was like ‘Oh, I need to see this.’”
Thanks to Phil and his phone, Clingan watched the historic game-winning sequence in real-time: UConn’s Silas Demary Jr. deflected a pass by Duke guard Cayden Boozer; UConn freshman Braylon Mullins recovered the loose ball at mid-court; Mullens passed the ball ahead to teammate Alex Karaban, who gave it right back to a trailing Mullens; he released a deeeep 3-pointer from 35 feet out; the shot ripped through the net with 0.4 seconds left and sent Capital One Arena into pure bedlam.
Back at Moda Center, Clingan went into his own frenzy.
“When I saw it go in, I’m sure you saw my emotions out there. I was just holding up the 3 and fist-pumping in the air,” he said, acting out the celebration for reporters with his left hand.
The improbable shot completed a 19-point comeback by UConn. Clingan never thought his Huskies were out of the fight, even facing the scary deficit. Camara can vouch for him.
“I know that he was a little bit nervous when they were down at the start, but he had faith,” Camara said. “He was believing, for sure.”
Clingan has expressed a deep love for his alma mater since arriving in Rip City in the summer of 2024. Just a second-year pro, he still has close personal connections to the UConn program because he played there so recently. Karaban, a senior, played an integral part alongside Clingan during both of his national titles. Current UConn players Solo Ball, Jayden Ross and Jaylin Stewart were all freshmen on Clingan’s second national title team. Mercurial UConn head coach Dan Hurley was at the helm during Clingan’s two seasons in Storrs, Connecticut, and he helped the big man become an NBA lottery pick.
“I saw his reaction,” Clingan said, referring to Hurley’s celebration on the sideline. “I’ve never seen him react like that, so I know he’s definitely happy.”
The Huskies now stand just two wins away from a dynastic third national championship in four years. They’ll have to get through Illinois in the Final Four and then defeat the winner of Arizona/Michigan to hoist the trophy. That potential title matchup against Arizona has already led to some jawing between Clingan and rookie Blazers guard Caleb Love, who spent two seasons in Tucson from 2023-2025.
“We’ve been talking. They got lucky today,” Love said. “But nah, they’re a good team. They got Illinois. We got Michigan. We’re focusing on Michigan right now.”
The Huskies eliminated one of Clingan’s teammate’s alma maters when they took out Jrue Holiday’s UCLA Bruins in the second round. Clingan is confident they’ll get to the title and do it again.
“A little bit. It’s a must.” Clingan said about whether he talked trash to Holiday about the win over UCLA. “We’re about to take care of Caleb’s Arizona in the Natty.”
“Of course,” Love countered, “I’m taking us over them, for sure.”
In the postgame locker room, Clingan said Karaban had already tried calling him to talk about UConn’s big day. Clingan couldn’t answer because he was busy with the fourth quarter versus the Wizards, but he planned to call his friend shortly:
“I’m gonna tell him, ‘Good job, but the job’s not done yet.’”
