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Walter Clayton Jr. has become a household name during Florida basketball's Final Four run.
Clayton has earned comparisons to sharpshooting NBA superstar Steph Curry during the 2025 men's NCAA Tournament after splashing clutch 3-pointer after 3-pointer for the Gators in nail-biting victories over UConn and Texas Tech.
REQUIRED READING: 'From the ground up’: How Walter Clayton Jr. worked for six years to deliver March Madness glory
The Florida point guard did not begin his career in Gainesville. While Clayton has blossomed into a star in March Madness, basketball was not even the sport he was offered during his recruitment. Some of the best colleges in the country offered Clayton a football scholarship. However, Clayton bet on his basketball career, and it is paying off.
Here's what you need to know about Clayton's football recruitment and why he chose the hardwood over the gridiron:
Following his sophomore season, Clayton made a significant decision: He was walking away from football, cold turkey. This was despite him holding multiple offers from major programs, including Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Tennessee, Notre Dame, Penn State, Nebraska and West Virginia.
Yet, the basketball offers were not coming in like Clayton wanted. He had in-state offers from Jacksonville and Florida Gulf Coast but nothing from the two flagship schools in Florida, Florida State. He and his mother even set up an appointment at IMG Academy to meet with basketball coaches to determine their interest level.
This was after averaging 17.5 points and leading his team to the Final Four as a sophomore.
"We got there, and they said, 'We don't have anything for you in basketball, but we'll definitely take you for football,'" Clayton said to FloridaGators.com last July. "We basically went down there for nothing. It was so frustrating."
Walking away from football was his way of showing college basketball coaches he was serious about the next level. Clayton then doubled down and transferred from Lake Wales to rival Bartow, a school that had sent Tony Bradley to North Carolina as a one-and-done prospect into a first-round pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
"How many players can you name that have transferred from Florida to Florida State? That's what going from Lake Wales to Bartow was like," Bartow basketball coach Terrence McGriff said of the transfer.
Following his transfer, Clayton led Bartow to back-to-back state championships for the first time in program history. Yet, the offers for his basketball career still were not up to standard, with the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions playing a role in that during his senior year in 2020-21.
McGriff even called Florida basketball's biggest boosters and Polk County native John Frost to generate interest in Clayton. Frost's appeals to then-coach Mike White went on deaf ears.
McGriff took Clayton to a virtual exposure camp in Orlando where activities were streamed live for college basketball coaches. An assistant for Rick Pitino caught a glimpse of Clayton and shared it with the Iona coach.
Pitino had a harsh assessment: "Fat, slow and can't shoot … but he can pass."
Following a Zoom interview, Pitino and Iona offered Clayton a scholarship to attend the small college of 3,600 students in New Rochelle, New York. Without even visiting, Clayton committed.
Alongside future Florida football star, Lake Wales teammate, and current Chicago Bear Gervon Dexter, Clayton visited Gainesville unofficially for football. The Gators officially offered him on Feb. 2, 2019.
Despite coming out a week late for football practices as a freshman, Clayton's Lake Wales coaches did not even consider junior varsity. He played quarterback, wideout and safety for the Highlanders. After sitting out the first game due to reporting late, Clayton made a leaping one-handed interception and returned it for an 80-yard touchdown.
So, how good of a prospect could Clayton have been if he had decided to stick with football? Mike Singer, a recruiting analyst for On3 talked to the Wall Street Journal about Clayton's potential.
“He was really good,” Mike Singer said to the WSJ. “There’s definitely a chance that he could have gone on to be — who knows — a four-star or five-star recruit.”
For high school football:
For high school basketball:
As a basketball transfer:
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Walter Clayton football recruitment revisited ahead of Final Four
Continue reading...
Clayton has earned comparisons to sharpshooting NBA superstar Steph Curry during the 2025 men's NCAA Tournament after splashing clutch 3-pointer after 3-pointer for the Gators in nail-biting victories over UConn and Texas Tech.
REQUIRED READING: 'From the ground up’: How Walter Clayton Jr. worked for six years to deliver March Madness glory
The Florida point guard did not begin his career in Gainesville. While Clayton has blossomed into a star in March Madness, basketball was not even the sport he was offered during his recruitment. Some of the best colleges in the country offered Clayton a football scholarship. However, Clayton bet on his basketball career, and it is paying off.
Here's what you need to know about Clayton's football recruitment and why he chose the hardwood over the gridiron:
Walter Clayton Jr. basketball recruitment
Following his sophomore season, Clayton made a significant decision: He was walking away from football, cold turkey. This was despite him holding multiple offers from major programs, including Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Tennessee, Notre Dame, Penn State, Nebraska and West Virginia.
Yet, the basketball offers were not coming in like Clayton wanted. He had in-state offers from Jacksonville and Florida Gulf Coast but nothing from the two flagship schools in Florida, Florida State. He and his mother even set up an appointment at IMG Academy to meet with basketball coaches to determine their interest level.
This was after averaging 17.5 points and leading his team to the Final Four as a sophomore.
"We got there, and they said, 'We don't have anything for you in basketball, but we'll definitely take you for football,'" Clayton said to FloridaGators.com last July. "We basically went down there for nothing. It was so frustrating."
Walking away from football was his way of showing college basketball coaches he was serious about the next level. Clayton then doubled down and transferred from Lake Wales to rival Bartow, a school that had sent Tony Bradley to North Carolina as a one-and-done prospect into a first-round pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
"How many players can you name that have transferred from Florida to Florida State? That's what going from Lake Wales to Bartow was like," Bartow basketball coach Terrence McGriff said of the transfer.
Following his transfer, Clayton led Bartow to back-to-back state championships for the first time in program history. Yet, the offers for his basketball career still were not up to standard, with the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions playing a role in that during his senior year in 2020-21.
McGriff even called Florida basketball's biggest boosters and Polk County native John Frost to generate interest in Clayton. Frost's appeals to then-coach Mike White went on deaf ears.
Walter Clayton Jr. commits to Rick Pitino, Iona
McGriff took Clayton to a virtual exposure camp in Orlando where activities were streamed live for college basketball coaches. An assistant for Rick Pitino caught a glimpse of Clayton and shared it with the Iona coach.
Pitino had a harsh assessment: "Fat, slow and can't shoot … but he can pass."
Following a Zoom interview, Pitino and Iona offered Clayton a scholarship to attend the small college of 3,600 students in New Rochelle, New York. Without even visiting, Clayton committed.
Walter Clayton Jr. football recruitment
Alongside future Florida football star, Lake Wales teammate, and current Chicago Bear Gervon Dexter, Clayton visited Gainesville unofficially for football. The Gators officially offered him on Feb. 2, 2019.
Despite coming out a week late for football practices as a freshman, Clayton's Lake Wales coaches did not even consider junior varsity. He played quarterback, wideout and safety for the Highlanders. After sitting out the first game due to reporting late, Clayton made a leaping one-handed interception and returned it for an 80-yard touchdown.
So, how good of a prospect could Clayton have been if he had decided to stick with football? Mike Singer, a recruiting analyst for On3 talked to the Wall Street Journal about Clayton's potential.
“He was really good,” Mike Singer said to the WSJ. “There’s definitely a chance that he could have gone on to be — who knows — a four-star or five-star recruit.”
Walter Clayton Jr. 247 rankings
For high school football:
- Star rating: Zero stars
- National ranking: N/A
- Positional ranking: N/A
- State ranking: N/A
For high school basketball:
- Star rating: Zero stars
- National ranking: N/A
- Positional ranking: N/A
- State ranking: N/A
As a basketball transfer:
- Star rating: Four stars
- Overall ranking: No. 69 overall
- Positional ranking: No. 17 point guard
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Walter Clayton football recruitment revisited ahead of Final Four
Continue reading...
