The Florida Gators and Walter Clayton Jr. are getting prepared to face the Auburn Tigers in the Final Four on Saturday in San Antonio, Texas. Tip-off between Florida and Auburn will be on Saturday at 6:09 p.m. ET on CBS.
The winner of this game will face either the Duke Blue Devils or the Houston Cougars in the National Championship Game on Monday night. Florida has been carried by Clayton throughout the NCAA Tournament when the game is on the line. He was the West Region’s tournament MVP. Is there anything else interesting about Clayton’s basketball career?
Florida Gators Walter Clayton Jr. Was Once a College Football Recruit
Clutch Points on Twitter reported about the Gators basketball superstar ahead of the Final Four,
“Florida Gators star Walter Clayton Jr was once a highly-touted football prospect. Back in high school, he was a 4-star QB recruit. And he reportedly got offers from Notre Dame, Georgia, and Florida. Instead, Clayton chose the hardwood. He went to play at Iona under Rick Pitino for 2 years, before transferring to Florida.”
It goes to show that his athleticism is crazy on the basketball court. It would have been fascinating to see him play football in the SEC instead of playing college basketball. Clayton is 6’3″ and weighs 195 lbs and is from Lake Wales, Florida.
During the season with the Gators, he is averaging 18.1 PPG, 3.6 RPG, and 4.2 APG, along with shooting 44.6% from the field. He has been the clutch player for Florida in the NCAA Tournament and he is drawing comparisons of Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors.
Gators head coach Todd Golden said,
“His off-balance shooting, his ability to get his shot off at different times and just his confidence to let it fly from deep. I think those things are very similar to compare to Steph.”
It will be interesting to see if Clayton will be able to lead Florida to its first National Championship since the 2007 season against the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Gators were last in the Final Four in 2014 when they lost to the UCONN Huskies. Florida is looking to end a national title drought, and it is also intriguing that Clayton was a two-sport star in high school.
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