When Walter Clayton Jr. shoots, there’s a collective “ooo,” that follows. As he collects his dribble and the ball rises into the air, eyes lock. Spectators and coaches hold their breath. The reaction suggests concern, but there’s none. He's yet again captured the attention of everyone in the arena as they wait to watch his next other-worldly play.
On Wednesday, when Florida commenced its 15 minutes of open practice before its Sweet Sixteen bout, the senior AP first-team All-American guard was the first player to make his way out of the team’s huddle — as he frequently is. After one of UF’s trainers pushed a ball at him, he rose from half-court and launched.
While there wasn’t much of a crowd in the Chase Center, an awe-inspired circulation of whispers and comments ensued. The shot didn’t fall, and neither did the next. Still, the effect was noticeable.
“He reminds me of Steph [Curry] a little bit of how good he is off the dribble,” Maryland head coach Kevin Willard said on Wednesday morning. “It really is amazing that he shoots — like we get a scouting report done by our analytical company. And he grades better than any player they've ever had analytically shooting the basketball off the dribble.”
During media availability, Willard faced a question about the state of NIL in college basketball, and while answering, he abruptly began raving about Clayton Jr. That seems to happen to people a lot — and for good reason.
The senior was named one of the four finalists for the Naismith Player of the Year award, college basketball’s highest single-player delineation, on Tuesday. That comes after a weekend where his 23-point performance in the Round of 32 nearly single-handedly willed Florida past eighth-seeded, reigning national champion UConn.
In doing so, Clayton Jr. drew his typical share of gasps, hitting two deep shots from the wing in the final three minutes of play. Florida hadn’t led the entire second half until that point and it didn’t trail after it. While it's hard to fly under the national radar as a consensus All-American, Clayton Jr.’s performance against the collegiate behemoth on Sunday drew a level of attention he hadn’t gotten before.
With a growing number of eyes on the first-time point guard’s abnormal calmness and fluid shooting motion, not to mention their similar 6-foot-3 builds, it's easy for them to see Willard's comparison to Curry. Especially as he sits at a podium built on top of the practice court the Warriors legend built, surrounded by walls coated in photos of Curry and his four NBA Championships.
In what was the only instance of agreement between UF and Maryland associates in San Francisco this week, Clayton Jr.’s teammates backed the analysis up.
“I mean, he shoots the ball at a very high level, so I get the comparisons,” Florida senior guard Will Richard said. “We see him work out too so we definitely can see it as well.”
It wasn’t always this easy for the Florida senior, though. Only two years ago, he bore the cold at Iona, traveling from Lake Wales, Florida, to New York, where one of his only three collegiate offers resided. After two seasons in New Rochelle, the self-described family man, who has frequently been seen throughout Florida’s NCAA Tournament run holding his one-year-old daughter, Leilani, decided he needed to go home.
Since arriving at Florida, he’s thrived in Todd Golden’s offense, developing from a shoot-first off-ball guard to a distributor, as the 39-year-old coach tasked him with running Florida’s offense this season. His new role, in tandem with UF’s expedited rise under Golden, has thrust him into the spotlight of collegiate basketball. That only extended with his late-game heroics on Sunday.
“I’ve hit some big shots in my life,” he said, describing the end-of-game moments against UConn. “Those were probably two of the biggest.”
Drawing comparisons to Curry, who he referred to as “one of the greatest ever,” it’s hard to imagine there won’t be bigger moments. But that doesn’t seem to phase Clayton Jr.
When he walked into the underbelly of the Chase Center on Wednesday afternoon, his face was clad with a smile — as it often is. Richard, senior guard Alijah Martin and the Florida star faced their first question at the podium — one about the Curry comparison — and Clayton Jr. quickly volunteered to answer. He thanked Willard for relating him to a player who “changed the game,” but pushed back against the notion that he should be compared to one of the NBA’s greats.
That answer makes sense, at least if you’ve attended Clayton Jr.’s press conferences this year. Despite coming from a background as an unranked recruit, under-played freshman and poorly evaluated transfer, he doesn’t seem overwhelmed by the growing stage.
You shouldn’t expect him to change, though, as he guides top-seeded Florida into the Elite Eight against third-seeded Texas Tech.
He worked his way into collegiate offers, weathered an abrupt change of scenery (with a historic coach — Rick Pitino — yelling at him constantly) and returned to Florida for this opportunity. Willard’s comparison to Curry, who spent three years in the Southern Conference at Davidson in order to jump to the NBA, might be hyperbolic. It also might not be.
Averaging 20.2 points per game in postseason play so far, Clayton Jr. continues to perform in the biggest moments, a testament to the consistency he emits. On Saturday, over 2,300 miles from Gainesville, he’ll be amid the grandest stage of his career so far. But, per usual, that’s not much of a reason to tense, despite the intrigue that’ll follow each of his shots.
“If you know Walter, his level of belief in himself, as well as his teammates and kind of everything he does, is at an incredibly high level…” Golden said. “In my humble estimation, he's been the best guard in America this year.”
Contact Noah White at nwhite@alligator.org. Follow him on X @noahwhite1782.
Noah is a Spring 2025 Assistant Sports Editor and Copy Desk Chief. He's a second-year journalism major who enjoys reading and shamefully rooting for Tennessee sports teams. He is also a Liberty League Women's Soccer expert.
