Walter Clayton Jr.’s road to the NBA is truly a one a kind story. After starting his career by playing and learning a new position under Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino, Clayton parlayed that experience into a national championship run with the Florida Gators.
Clayton, who is currently projected as a late first-round pick in Wednesday’s NBA Draft, is appreciative of each experience that has led him to this point.
“Just thankful for the people that have been in my life, and just thankful for the journey,” Clayton said in Road to the Draft presented by Jeep. “I’m ready. I’m ready, for sure.”
A pure point guard in high school, Clayton embraced the challenge of becoming a combo guard during his time at Iona. After averaging 7.3 points per game as a freshman, Clayton averaged an impressive 16.8 points per outing as a sophomore while helping lead Iona to a conference title.
“The combo guard transition … it was really just looking to score more,” Clayton said. “I was also so pass-first minded. At Iona, Coach P wanted me to just score first more, and it kinda opened up more scoring for me.”
While he was initially going to follow Pitino to his next stop, Clayton — a Florida native — ultimately chose to instead transfer to Gainesville after his sophomore season after hearing Gators coach Todd Golden’s vision for the program along with the news that his daughter was on the way.
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Clayton continued to…
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