Walter Clayton Jr.’s future was football. But he bet on himself, and is now in Final Four

Walter Clayton Jr. has been the star for Florida, and while he’s led the Gators to the men’s Final Four for the first time since 2014, the senior guard could have been in Gainesville much earlier in his college career.

The only difference is he would’ve been wearing cleats and sporting the iconic orange helmet with the “Gators” script.

It’s a rewarding feeling for every player to make the Final Four, but there’s more to it for Clayton. Making it to San Antonio fulfills a bet he made on himself. People didn’t see a future on a basketball court, and as they laid out a path to college for him, he stuck to his gut, and created his own road toward success.

At Lake Wales High School, about 45 miles south of Orlando, Clayton was turning heads as a safety for the Highlanders football team. He was quick and a ball hawk. He became a four-star prospect and, according to 247Sports, got offers to play at Notre Dame, Florida State, Georgia, Nebraska and Tennessee.

And yes, even Florida. In fact, he took a recruiting visit to Florida with now former Gators player and current Chicago Bears defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Jr.

But for how good he was on the gridiron, Clayton wanted to pursue basketball. The only issue was not many schools had as much interest. He sought out to prove how serious he was about it by trying to attend Florida’s premier sports prep school in IMG Academy. Instead, he was told football would be his only path there.

Clayton didn’t let the rejections stop him. He transferred to Bartow High School prior to his junior season to focus solely on basketball, and he was a stud as a key contributor on a team that won back-to-back state titles. Even with the success, COVID-19 restrictions hampered his recruitment. Only mid-major schools such as Jacksonville, East Carolina and Iona offered him a scholarship.

But at Iona was Rick Pitino, and it turns out the success at Bartow played a major role in getting him to New Rochelle, New York.

“We looked at the film, and what I liked is that he won back-to-back high school championships,” Pitino said Friday. “I wanted a winner at Iona, and he was a winner. Even though he was a football player, I liked the way he passed the ball. I liked what he was doing.”

Pitino gave him the chance, and after he adjusted to the college game, Clayton shined for the Gaels. He was named Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference player of the year in 2022-23 with 16.8 points per game and a nation-best 95.3% free throw percentage to lead Iona to the NCAA Tournament. When Pitino left Iona for St. John’s, Clayton decided to come back to his home state rather than follow his coach. He visited the Gators as a football recruit years prior, now he was finally playing hoops for them.

Since then, it’s been the perfect fit for Clayton at Florida. Last season he showed flashes of his star potential, and it’s been on full display during this campaign. He leads the team with 18.1 points and 4.2 assists per game and was the SEC Tournament MVP, helping Florida prove it is a national championship contender by coming out on top in the conference.

“They counted my boy out on the court!” Dexter said on social media.

Had it not been for Clayton in the Elite Eight, Florida would not be playing Auburn on Saturday. Now in the Final Four, Clayton could put himself among Gators greats if he’s able to deliver Florida its third national championship and first since 2007.

No matter what happens in San Antonio, getting to this point is already a win for Clayton. He’ll leave college a star and has a shot as a pro. He’s projected to be a second round selection in the USA TODAY Sports NBA mock draft.

Would Clayton have been a star if he chose football? We’ll never know. But he took a chance on himself with basketball when others didn’t, and it paid off.

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