GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The moment Iona combo guard Walter Clayton Jr. put his name in the transfer portal the fit was just too perfect. Florida kid. Outstanding shooter. Tremendous feel for the game. Ferocious competitor.
In other words, a bunch of things the Gators were lacking in Coach
Todd Golden's first season and went looking to inject into the program for his second.
The sales pitch to Clayton was going to be easy ("Come home and be the centerpiece of our reboot, kid"). Convincing the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year to leave Hall-of-Famer Rick Pitino? That was going to be hard.
Pitino, who coached Clayton to a NIT appearance last year and a couple MAAC championships en route to the NCAA Tournament in 2022-23, desperately wanted his best player to remain in New York and accompany him to his new job at St. John's. A week after Clayton took his official UF visit, Pitino and the Red Storm brought him to their campus.
It could not have been easy for Clayton to tell one of the most accomplished coaches in college basketball history that his dream of playing high-major basketball would come in the Southeastern Conference — about two hours from his home in Lake Wales, Fla. — rather than the Big East.
Yet, Clayton's official paperwork arrived Monday and the Gators immediately became a much better, much tougher and much more well-rounded team because of it.
Ask anyone on the Florida staff. The Gators landed a game-changer.
Walter Clayton Jr. (2) started 36 games for Hall-of-Fame Coach Rick Pitino (left) over the last two seasons, including 31 in '22-23, with the Gaels going 52-16 over Clayton's two seasons in the program.
The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Clayton played at both Lake Wales and Bartow high schools, leading the latter to a 31-1 record and Class 6A state championship in 2020, yet he was more highly regarded as a football prospect (at safety and wide receiver) with early interest from the likes of Auburn, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Tennessee and, yes, even UF. But Clayton's first love was basketball and after offers from South Florida, Florida Gulf Coast and East Carolina among others at that level, Clayton opted to go to the Big Apple and play for Pitino. Good move.
He was a backup as a freshman who played in all 32 games, including a season-ending loss at Florida in the NIT. Clayton had eight points, two rebounds and four steals in that one.
Walter Clayton to the rack.
In '22-23, Clayton basically doubled all of his averages and put up wickedly efficient numbers in starting 31 of the Gaels' 32 games. He averaged 16.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.3 steals a game. Clayton shot 45.5 percent from the floor (48 from the 2-point area), a sniper-ish 43.1 from the 3-point arc and finished second in the country at a staggering 95.3 percent from the free-throw line, with his numbers culminating in MAAC Player of the Year honors. He did it all while playing for Pitino, one of the most demanding coaches ever to stalk a sideline, as well as one of the most sophisticated when it comes to running offense.
Clayton hit double-figure scoring in 16 of his final 17 games, along the way pouring in 30 at Niagara and 28 at Mount St. Mary's. Earlier in the season, he had a line of 20 points, six rebounds and five assists against eventual Sweet 16 team Princeton, as well as a 26-point outburst against Santa Clara when he went 6-for-6 from the 3-point line.
In his final game as a Gael, Clayton tallied 15 points, four rebounds and four assists in an 87-63 first-round NCAA Tournament loss to eventual national champion Connecticut. For what it's worth, Iona actually led the game by two points at halftime, making for the only instance the Huskies trailed in a second half of their dominant six-game run to the title.
Clayton helped fuel that. He is a ferocious competitor who does not shy away from physicality. Chalk that up to the football player in him, with Golden and the UF staff showing a trend for seeking out prospects — Monday signee Micah Handlogten, before growing into a 7-1 center at Marshall, was a star lacrosse player — with multiple sports in their background.
So the Gators will have some intriguing options on the perimeter, as far as pairing Clayton alongside the play-making of
Riley Kugel and outside shooting of
Will Richard, with several other transfer and/or prep prospects (and at least three roster spots available) still very much in the mix. Expect one to be another perimeter guy with a resume that suggests he's ready to contribute immediately.
Clayton has built such a profile, but had to do so a thousand miles away despite growing up a Miami football fan and Florida basketball fan. He'll have two seasons with the Gators to make up for lost time. Here's betting Clayton comes into the program locked in, on a mission and ready to put his stamp on the Gators.
'Cause make no mistake; he's already been coached really, really hard.
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