As an off-the-ball guard, Walter Clayton Jr. averaged more points last season. However, as Florida entered the 2024-25 season primed for its strongest campaign in decades, it was left with a whole to fill: point guard.
The Gators had been guided by All-SEC graduate Zyon Pullin the previous season as they broke through for their first year with over 20 wins since 2018. With Pullin’s departure, Golden turned to his most dominant scoring weapon to facilitate the offense.
“It would be a lot for a young man to come back to college, finish up his career, move from being the two-guard to the primary ball handler and point guard,” Golden said. “Not only that, but take pride in it. It speaks to his maturity and his toughness, both mentally and physically, that he's been able to navigate this year so well."
Clayton Jr., a senior guard hailing from Lake Wales, Florida — who once traversed the east coast to New Rochelle, New York, to play for Iona before finding his way back — is at home on the court in Nashville. As he weaves between defenders, governing the ball with such authority it believes he is its owner, Clayton Jr. finds a gap and fires. With that, No. 4 UF trailed by one as what was a startling early deficit to No. 5 Alabama had disappeared. It never showed its face again.
Maybe there could've been a more engaging tale here: The Gators and Tide trading blows for an NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed, which ESPN projected was on the line. Two offensive stalwarts (No. 3 and 4, respectively, in the nation, per KenPom) hitting one shot after another, replenishing the lack of scoring from the day’s earlier SEC semifinal.
But that didn’t come to fruition on Saturday, much to Clayton Jr.’s credit for the second time in two weeks.
As was the case on March 5 — only 10 days earlier — Florida and Alabama matched up to secure the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee’s favor. While the Gators’ 104-82 victory on Saturday wasn’t nearly as competitive as the previous week, Clayton Jr.’s performances were akin.
The recently-announced first-team All-American (Sporting News) has strung together four straight performances of 18 or more points. Additionally, the senior has averaged seven assists as the season wains, a jump from his 4.4 the rest of the year, solidifying his spot among the best point guards in the nation.
"I just go into the game doing whatever the team needs me to do,” Clayton said. "We all just go into the game thinking we need to do whatever it is to get the win – whether it's passing or scoring."
Following the loss to Georgia on Feb. 25, the Gators have been untouchable. Wielding the most effective offense in the nation since the collapse, predicated around a balanced scoring attack (five different players averaging 12 points per game), Clayton Jr. remains Florida’s ringmaster. However, in the SEC Championship, UF and Clayton Jr. will look to pull off their most daunting act yet.
There are only a few blemishes on Florida’s ledger in 2025, the most notable being a 64-44 loss to Tennessee. Only weeks earlier, the Gators leveled what was then the top-ranked team in the nation, beating the Volunteers 73-43 on Jan. 7. However, when the pair squared off for a second time, UF’s offense was a shell of itself.
Much of that would be to Tennessee’s credit, making Saturday’s contest all that more critical of a final showing before the NCAA Tournament. The Vols trot out the third most efficient defense in the nation, per KenPom, and have perfectly designed themselves to stymie UF’s greatest strength: 3-point shooting. Tennessee allows the lowest 3-point percentage in the country at 27.6. With senior guards Zakai Zeigler, Chaz Lanier and Jordan Gainey surrounding the perimeter, Clayton Jr. and co. have struggled to move fluidly in the past.
"Tennessee, that's what they're known for, their physicality, how hard they play," Clayton Jr. said. "So it's definitely going to be physical tomorrow. We're going to have to go out there and match their physicality."
Sunday’s bout is the final battle of two vastly conflicting schemes. With an SEC Championship on the line — Florida’s first in 11 years — and a spot along the top-seed line in the NCAA Tournament nearly secured, Clayton Jr. and the Gators don’t appear out of place. They’ve performed many a time. Now, it just means the most it has in nearly a decade.
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.
