Walter Clayton Jr., the star of the 2025 NCAA Champion Florida Gators, is carrying his scorching hot stock right into this upcoming draft. Currently, As of now, Clayton is projected in our Aggregate Mock Draft as a late first-round pick heading into the Combine.
Clayton initially played his college career at Iona with Rick Pitino, and then transferred to Florida for his junior and senior years, where he excelled. He declared for the draft last season, but admitted returning to school was one of the best decisions of his life.
The 2025 Final Four Most Outstanding Player spoke with HoopsHype recently about the draft process, his mindset, the magical run with Florida this season, and more.
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Walter Clayton Jr: I’m definitely prepared, been out at LA, signed with Klutch, so we’ve just been in the gym every day preparing, me and the other group of guys to get ready for what’s coming at the Combine.
WC: I mean, it’s always been a dream of mine since I was a kid. Something I look forward to hopefully accomplishing in my life and I think just being at Iona helped me gain a lot of experience. I’m thankful for the journey that I had and being able to come back home to Florida and play for the Gators. So just thankful for the whole journey.
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WC: It was great. I’ve been blessed with a lot of coaches who have given me different things that I’ve needed at different times of my life. Those two years with Coach P was about mental toughness, so just going to the gym with him every day, hearing his voice, I had to come into it tough.
WC: Yeah, his whole thing was just daily habits. You gotta make sure you get 1 percent better every day. He was in the gym every day having individual workouts. In that practice, just show up and give it your all.
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WC: I wouldn’t say anything changed as far as work wise. I had a great high school coach, was a great high school program. We won two state championships, there’s a lot of history there. But just adjusted to the speed of the game whenever I got to college, things like that kind of having that freshman jump.
WC: Yeah, for sure. I mean, those thoughts kind of always run through your mind, but I’m big on just being wherever my feet are at, being present in the moment. So back in those Iona days, I was worried about next practice, the next game, the next workout.
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WC: Nah, never. I ended up playing two years of high school football. I was kind of forced into it by everybody around me. Growing up where I’m from, you gotta play two sports. So whenever I got to high school, I tried to stop and stick to strictly to basketball, but ended up playing for two years. And then finally made that personal decision to transfer to a good basketball program, give them my all in this.
WC: For sure, I definitely think I matured at Florida. Just obviously was a year older this year. Having one year under my belt, playing under Coach Golden. This year was honestly great, man. We had great guys on and off the floor. We spent a lot of time together. And it’s a good feeling whenever every time you walk into the gym, you see one of your teammates in there working out. So it just instilled a trust in us, just seeing each other in the gym every day. We just had each other, we trusted each other in games, and we was able to show that in big moments.
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WC: Yeah, for sure. I think the moment for me personally, and I think a lot of my teammates would agree was the North Carolina game. I’m big on just how people handle adversity. So we were up in that game at halftime, they ended up coming back. It was kind of like a neutral away game for us in North Carolina. They ended up closing the gap. They were up four, I think it was three minutes to go. We all kind of came back to the huddle, no one was yelling at each other. It was almost as if we was up by 20, you know what I’m saying? So we were just talking to each other calmly, sticking together. And I think at that moment, that’s when I realized we could do something special.
WC: Yeah, I think just another year in the SEC, adjusting to the physicality even more. I felt like I was all right in the first year, put on a couple pounds, it was just better this year. Just navigating my way through the game, just being a better leader, just growing throughout the year. So I definitely think my game matured in a lot of ways. Still, there’s ways for me to mature.
WC: Me personally, I’ll let other people do the comparison. Me personally, I don’t do comps. I kinda said it already. I like to take bits and pieces from different guys’ games, but I just try to be me.
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WC: Donovan Mitchell is one of them, just with his full game. He gets in there, never gets too deep in the paint. So just all the different footwork he has with that. Obviously guys like [Stephen] Curry, just their footwork. Klay Thompson, coming off ball screens, even dribble pull-ups. And just looking at other guys like Jrue Holiday, trying to take their game apart, seeing how I can improve on the defensive end of the ball.
WC: I’ve gotten a couple from a couple guys, obviously all the Gators. Of course, Bradley Beal, Joakim Noah, and then really it was Taurean Green, one of our assistant coaches this year. He was a back-to-back national champion. So just having him in my corner these past few years has been great for me.
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WC: I think I’ve just been trying to tighten everything up, just be more consistent with everything. So obviously, you gotta make sure the jumper’s still going, you’re working on that heavy, just getting in a better shape throughout this whole pre-draft process, getting my legs under me. And just everything – defense – we’re working on everything.
WC: I just wanna be whatever helps the team win, whether that’s a microwave scorer off the bench, or whatever role they wanna put me in, I just wanna help the team win.
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WC: It’s hard for me personally to talk about myself, but I just feel like I move my feet well on defense. Just meet people that are good points of contact, quick hands, able to generate steals, and fast break opportunities.
WC: For sure, shooting is definitely one of the biggest things in the NBA these days, like you said, with the spacing. So shooting the basketball is definitely one of those things towards the top of the list.
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WC: Me personally? I don’t pay attention to them at all. Everybody has their own opinion. The decision makers, they’re gonna make their decision whenever the draft day comes, so I don’t pay attention to them at all.
WC: Yeah, for sure, my high school coach, man, he just taught me, just be present. Anytime I would say something about the future, one time I made a reference, I’m like, this crazy coach who’s gonna win a state championship this year. He was like, hey man, we got practice tomorrow. So just being present in the moment, you know what I’m saying? If you look too far ahead, it might distract you from where you’re at in the current moment.
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WC: Yeah, for sure, man. At the end of the day, the only opinions that mattered during that whole tournament run was the people that was living our program. That was the only voices that mattered, and that’s the way we kept it as a team, and the way we was able to stay so tight and make it run.
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WC: Definitely my mom. Obviously, it’s been a long journey for me and her. Her just being there every day and making sure I had everything I needed when I was younger. So I would say my mom.
WC: Yeah, my mom’s biggest thing was just she was letting me do whatever I wanted to do with my life, honestly, as long as it was on the right path. She wasn’t gonna let me steer wrong. So yeah, man, my mom, she just allowed me to be myself growing up. She never forced anything on me. She let me do what I wanted in a sense of just going after my goals.
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WC: LeBron. Just the way he impacts the game, man. He impacts the game at all levels, whether you need somebody to score. You’re so worried about him scoring and driving to the basket, you gotta help. So that’s creating opportunities for shooters. And then people say he’s not a great defender, man. He’s a pretty good defender, I’m not gonna lie. So I think LeBron is the GOAT in just all the aspects of the game that he affects.
WC: I mean, obviously, he’s not my GOAT, but MJ. Obviously, I enjoyed watching MJ. Just his touch in the mid-range, his elevation on his mid-range jump sho. I loved Bradley Beal growing up, watching his games when he was with the Wizards. Obviously, Kyrie clips, just watching all those guys.
