Is Donovan Clingan playing today vs Purdue? Looking at UConn Center's availability ahead of NCAA Tournament

UConn Huskies center Donovan Clingan will be playing on Monday in the national championship game against the Purdue Boilermakers.

Clingan had his hand wrapped in the Final Four against Alabama as he dealt with an injury from practice.

According to Clingan, he bruised it after taking an elbow from a teammate, but he was able to play in the Final Four.

Donovan Clingan's injury update

UConn Huskies center Donovan Clingan has been adamant that the bruise on his hand is no big deal and he is fine to play.

Huskies coach Dan Hurley said Clingan is healthy and knows he will have his hands full against Purdue star Zach Edey.

"He's healthy. He's confident. He's playing more like a junior player. He understands the challenges that he's dealing with with Zach Edey," Hurley said, via SI. "It's a unique matchup. He's played against some outstanding centers in Soriano and Kalkbrenner.

"But this is a different animal and they use him in a much, much different way. It's going to be a heck of a challenge for our front court, for our guards, our whole team. It's going to have to take a team effort to try to slow him down a little bit."

Whether or not the hand injury will impact Clingan is yet to be seen.

Donovan Clingan's stats against Alabama

Donovan Clingan was dealing with a minor hand injury against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Final Four, but the UConn Huskies center still had an effective game.

Clingan had 18 points and five rebounds in the Huskies win, but defensively, he will need to be on his A-game to defend against Edey. Yet, Clingan's teammate, guard Stephon Castle, has confidence in the team's ability to stop Edey and help UConn get the win.

"We know how dominant Edey's been all year, but we believe in [Clingan], and he's going to have a great game," Castle said. "I feel like they match up pretty well, and if they can cancel each other out, then we'll win the battles on the perimeter."

The Huskies are looking to repeat as the national champions after winning March Madness last season. UConn enters the game as a seven-point favorite to defeat Purdue in the national championship game.

In 2023-24, Clingan is averaging 13.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 1.5 assists per game. He has started 32 of the 34 games he has played for UConn this season.