Walter Clayton Jr. out to prove at the point guard spot for Florida basketball in 2024-25

Florida basketball combo guard Walter Clayton Jr. showed he could light up a scoreboard in his first season at UF in 2023-24.

Clayton’s 17.6 per game scoring average was the highest for a Florida Gators player since Anthony Roberson averaged 17.9 points per game for UF in 2003-04.

But after playing mainly off the ball last season, the 6-foot-3, 195-pound Clayton will enter the 2024-25 season as the likely starter for UF at point guard.

Clayton was at times shaky with the basketball during the 2023-24 season, posting an assist-to-turnover ratio of 93-80 last season. Taking care of the ball, Clayton said, was one of the aspects of the game he worked on the most during the offseason.

“Just getting to know my teammates, what passes they can catch, what passes might be a little bit more tough,” Clayton said of preparing to play more point. “What passes I can throw and can’t throw. I think I was a little careless with the ball sometimes last year, taking too many chances. So just being better with that.”

Florida basketball coach Todd Golden has confidence in Clayton running the offense. Clayton ran the point at Iona before transferring to UF and started the first three games at point for the Gators last season when starting point guard Zyon Pullin sat out due to an NCAA suspension. Part of the feedback Clayton received from NBA teams before pulling his name back from the draft last spring centered on showing he could handle playing the point on a more consistent basis.

“The biggest progress made so far by Walt have been his consistency and leadership,” Golden said. “I think that’s something, as we were working together to find a path for him to come back to Florida last year, and make sure it was the right situation for everybody, that was something that was important to me; to move into that role where his leadership, both vocally and by example, had to be really, really consistent.

“He’s shown a lot of improvement of taking on more. Obviously as the primary ball-handler early…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/walter-clayton-jr-prove-point-080436908.html

Author : The Gainesville Sun

Publish date : 2024-09-25 08:04:36

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