After two seasons together at Iona, Walter Clayton Jr. knew his break-up with Rick Pitino was not going to be easy.
But Clayton’s first love always had been Gators basketball, dating to his early days in Lake Wales as Joakim Noah, Al Horford and Co. dominated the sport.
When the time arrived to make an offseason move, Clayton listened to his heart and headed home to Florida rather than follow his Hall of Fame coach to St. John’s.
“When I first told him, it was tough,” Clayton recalled Monday. “I was with him for two years. I obviously love him, know he’s loves me. We had a relationship.
“It was definitely tough leaving him, but I felt like this is what was best for me.”
Clayton was Pitino’s kind of player — fleet-footed, fearless and level-headed playing the 70-year-old’s up-tempo style.
Yet Clayton, 20, and Gators coach Todd Golden, 37, spoke the same language.
“I probably relate to him a little more,” Clayton said.
They also shared the same vision, rooted in the program’s heyday.
“He wants to build something special,” Clayton said. “He’s not denying or trying to erase the past here. He’s embracing it. He knows we need to get back to that level.
“I want to be a part of that.”
Clayton could be a linchpin as the Gators push to shake off a 16-17 season.
The athletic 6-foot-3 combo-guard looks to breathe life into the Gators’ attack using his versatility and shooting ability. Able to play on or off the basketball, Clayton averaged 16.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists last season at Iona while shooting 43.1% from 3-point range and a nation-leading 95.3% from the free-throw line.
He provides options on a suddenly well-stocked perimeter featuring returners Riley Kugel and Will Richard and fellow transfers such as UC Riverside point guard Zyon Pullin.
“Love him,” Golden gushed of Clayton last week. “Pretty much what we expected in terms of just being a great competitor, good leader, obviously a fantastic shooter. But he’s more than that offensively. He’s better with the ball than even we thought … being able to play the pick-and-roll, be a point guard when we need that, a really good catch and shooter.”
Florida transfer guard Walter Clayton Jr. drives to the basket during a workout May 31, 2023, in Gainesville (Maddie Washburn/University Athletic Association)Clayton was a star at Bartow High School, leading the Yellow Jackets to consecutive Class 6A state championships in 2020 and 2021. He also flew under the radar.
COVID-19 restrictions canceled 2020 summer leagues and upended the high school recruiting process while the NCAA transfer portal offered coaches quick fixes.
“I had like no offers,” Clayton said.
To generate interest, Bartow coach Terrence McGriff set up scouting combine-like workouts he live-streamed for college recruiters. While no big-time takers emerged, Clayton had options, ultimately choosing Iona over Stetson, Florida A&M James Madison, East Carolina and Tulsa.
At one point, Clayton actually had a brighter future in football.
As a freshman at Lake Wales High, he played with his childhood friend and future Gator Gervon Dexter. Standing 6-foot-6 as a 14-year-old, the nimble-footed Dexter himself appeared destined for big things in basketball.
“We thought he was going to the NBA when we were younger,” Clayton said. “He was bigger than everybody, had some skill moves and obviously on the football field, you can see his footwork. He big and he could move.”
Soon the roles reversed. Yet Clayton, an elusive quarterback, explosive receiver and instinctive safety, ended up with football offers at Florida, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Nebraska, and West Virginia.
“Honestly practice for football wasn’t really something that I enjoyed,” he said. “I could go in basketball practice and just be happy to whole the time. Football it just wasn’t that way.”
Clayton still carries an intensity from his days on the gridiron and the attitude someone overlooked coming out of high school.
“A guy that, as a coach, gives you confidence,” Golden said. “He’s not gonna be scared who he’s matching up against and he has a little bit of a chip on his shoulder, some confidence, some cockiness in a good way. It goes a long way.”
Clayton’s competitive edge also harkens to those Gators’ national championship teams of 2006 and 2007 he barely can recall but remembers watching on TV in the living room at home.
“I was probably like 3, 4 years old when they won the back to back,” Clayton recalled Monday. “I still kind of remember a little bit of that … not clearly.”
The one thing Clayton remembers?
“Toughness,” he said.
Clayton started to play basketball around then and kept close watch on the Gators.
Over the years, he watched Bradley Beal — now Clayton’s favorite player along with LeBron James — and Chris Chiozza star at UF. Years later, Clayton aims to leave his own mark.
“It’d mean a lot,” he said. “There’s just something about Gainesville. There’s no pro team. It’s just Gators. If we’re winning, everybody around here will be be excited.
“It will just be a good vibes.”
Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com
