Image Credit: NCAA
Arguably the greatest player in program history has become only the Florida Gators’ second first-round pick in the last 13 years. Point guard Walter Clayton Jr. on Wednesday night was selected No. 18 overall by the Utah Jazz as the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft unfolded at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The Jazz acquired the selection trading the No. 21 overall pick and two second-round picks to the Washington Wizards, who originally held that placement in the first round.
Clayton, the Most Outstanding Player of the 2025 NCAA Tournament, lead the Gators to their first national championship in 18 years. The greatest scorer in Florida basketball history averaged career-highs of 18.3 points and 4.2 assists per game last season while shooting 44.8% from the field, 38.6% from 3-point land and 87.5% from the free-throw online. He ended his collegiate career draining at least one triple in 62 consecutive games.
Though the Gators trailed in four of their last five games in March Madness, Clayton was key to each late second-half comeback, respectively scoring 13, 10, 9 and 9 points in the final minutes of those games.
He is now the first Florida player since Tre Mann (also No. 18 overall in 2021) to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft and just the third since 2008.
Clayton impressed throughout the pre-draft process, excelling in workouts and interviews coming off an incredible senior season for the Gators. The most clutch player in college basketball last season, the relatively diminutive floor general (6-foot 2, 195 pounds) has as much upside as anyone else in the draft despite being selected in the latter stages of the first round.
Improving his defense as the season progressed, Clayton’s lone knock was his decision making as a distributor. He averaged a career-high 2.4 turnovers per game last season, committing 19 in six March Madness appearances (3.2 per game) with 11 games of 4+ turnovers in 39 starts. Clayton’s tendency to ebb and flow offensively is another area in which he can improve, but when he’s engaged and consistent, there are few better coming out of the college ranks in 2025.
With 713 points in orange & blue, Clayton enters the NBA as Florida’s record holder in single-season scoring with two o the top six scoring seasons in program history. His 1,346 combined points were the most across two seasons in Gators basketball history, and his 134 points in six NCAA Tournament games were the most by any Florida player.