Walter Clayton front and center for Florida Basketball's hopes and dreams in 2024/25
![Florida Gators guard Walter Clayton Jr. (1) makes a layup as the Florida Gators men’s basketball team held a practice on John W. Frost II Practice Court in Gainesville, FL on Tuesday, September 24, 2024. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_2818,h_1585,x_0,y_561/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2F213%2F01jbhe65zbt8xm6m9m3h.jpg "Florida Gators guard Walter Clayton Jr. (1) makes a layup as the Florida Gators men’s basketball team held a practice on John W. Frost II Practice Court in Gainesville, FL on Tuesday, September 24, 2024. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]")
It feels wild that Florida Basketball hasn't been past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament since 2017, and yet when reflecting upon the past few seasons it feels par for the course. Even with heightened expectations heading into the 2024/25 campaign, Florida's preseason ranking indicates they are in line for a second round exit.
If Florida is going to surpass their preseason ranking, Walter Clayton Jr. is going to be front and center of the campaign.
Florida Basketball: Step Forward
Clayton was named on the Naismith Trophy Men's College Player of the Year Watch List on Wednesday. He is one of 50 players on the watchlist for the award that is given at the end of the season to the best player in the country.
He also was named to the SEC Men's Basketball Coaches Preseason All-SEC First Team, the only Gator to be named on any preseason SEC team.
Clayton scored 633 points last season, the 44th most in the country, and had an average of 17.6 points per game. He shot 87.7% from the free throw line, 56th best in the country, and also took 255 three-point attempts, the 37th most in the country.
The hope for Clayton in 2024/25, which could also dictate Florida's fate this season, is to improve upon the accuracy of his three-point attempts. While he made 93 attempts, the 41st most in the country, his shooting percentage of 36.5% was outside the top 500 in the country.
Ball security will be a big theme for Clayton as well this season. He had 80 turnovers, just six away from being in the top 100 for most turnovers in the country, and his assist-to-turnover ratio was just 1.2.
If Clayton can put it all together, he will be surrounded by enough talent for Florida to fulfill the prophecy and make their first deep run since 2017.
And who knows, he might just have some personal hardware too.