Clayton, ‘the real deal,’ brings Florida to last

• Myron MedcalfApr 5, 2025, 08:55 PM ET Close Covers college basketball

• Signed up with ESPN.com in 2011
• Graduate of Minnesota State University, Mankato

SAN ANTONIO– The crowd at the Final Four is often filled with college basketball dignitaries.In the front row of the Alamodome on Saturday sat Jim Boeheim, Mark Couple Of, Scott Drew, Nate Oats and Tubby Smith. Mike Krzyzewski, Hakeem Olajuwon, Dwight Howard and Carmelo Anthony were likewise in the building.But when Florida star Walter Clayton Jr. illuminated the Alamodome with a 34-point effort in his group’s 79-73 success over Auburn, the very same group of basketball veterans who had actually seen it all before responded as if perhaps they hadn’t. “That Walter Clayton Jr. is the genuine deal,

“stated Roy Williams, who coached Michael Jordan as an assistant at North Carolina under Dean Smith, from his seat near midcourt.”He’s the real deal.”In his newest remarkable, come-from-behind effort, Clayton matched history. Before Saturday, just Larry Bird had actually scored 30 points or more in back-to-back Elite 8 and Final Four games. Clayton’s effort Saturday followed a 30-point contribution in a win over Texas Tech, which had a nine-point lead with 3:14 to play.That’s why Clayton’s teammates weren’t shocked.”I feel like everyone sees

it,”Florida guard Will Richard said after Saturday’s game.”He’s poised, calm and collected, positive in himself. We have that confidence in him. We see him practice. We see his work ethic. We’re delighted everybody else is getting to see him do it in a game. “Year Player School 2025 Walter Clayton Jr. * Florida 1979 Larry Bird * Indiana State 1973 Ernie DiGregorio

Auburn coach Bruce Pearl feared in his group’s second meeting with Florida had come true.Clayton, who scored 19 points in a 90-81 win at Auburn on Feb. 8, struck 3-pointers from several spots. He scored in traffic. He made a layup from an impossible angle after halftime. He struck a 3-pointer to cut Auburn’s lead in the 2nd half, too. And when he finished a three-point play with a layup after a foul in the last minutes, the obit on Auburn’s 2024-25 season was nearly ended up. “Clayton has been the very best guard on the floor every single night,”Pearl said Friday.”Clayton can’t be the very best guard on the floor tomorrow.”But he was, only two months after he had been the very best guard on the floor in Florida’s win over Auburn in SEC play.The Gators will play in the national title game for the very first time given that 2007, when they won their second nationwide title in a row.On Saturday, Florida’s postgame locker space was not just the scene of an event however also a chance for Clayton’s greatest fans to communicate why they weren’t frightened when the group was down by nine points– the same margin it eliminated late against Texas Tech– early in the 2nd half.Gators center Micah Handlogten and his colleagues had actually anticipated the result at halftime. With 20 minutes left, they told one another, Auburn had left excessive time on the clock for Clayton.”The truth that he can head out there tonight and score 34 points and get us to a national championship is just fantastic,”Handlogten stated.” I can’t truly explain it. He never ever reveals too much feeling. He constantly simply has this little mean mug on and he simply hoops.” Those who play with Clayton

said they likewise end up being fans when the AP first-team All-American enters what several teammates called a “zone “that they can feel approaching as he warms up. The shots that shouldn’t fall constantly seem to throughout

those stretches. And when they do, the Gators understand that they can take control of the game. “I seem like he remains in the zone every time he touches the rock, “Sam Alexis said about his group’s confidence amid misfortune with Clayton on the roster.”We have actually got Walt. He’s going to let it fly.”

Included Denzel Aberdeen, who has had fun with Clayton given that they were on the very same AAU group in middle school:”You constantly look in the sky and see it go through the web and you’re like,’Oh my goodness, he resembles that.'” Editor’s Picks 2 Associated Auburn’s game plan against Clayton was the byproduct of hours of film. In some ways, it worked.

Clayton did not get a wide variety of open looks. However even when his shots were challenged, they still went in.”We will return and enjoy the film and you’re going to see 3 or 4, simply extremely contested, high-degree-of-difficulty shots, however that’s why he is among the very best players in college basketball because he’s able to do those things,” said Steven Pearl, Auburn’s associate head coach.”So hats off to him. Obviously, he did an amazing task of willing them to a championship game game.”However Clayton wants more.On Monday night, he’ll have a possibility to lead his group to its 3rd national title and very first champion in nearly two decades when it takes on Houston, a 70-67 winner over Duke in

Saturday’s late semifinal.Also, with another effort like the one he’s had over the previous two games, he’ll have a possibility to join the family tree of Final Four stars who are understood by one name. Laettner. Mateen. Carmelo. Kemba. ADVERTISEMENT. Shabazz. Tyus. DiVincenzo. Tristen.Clayton?If, after Saturday’s win, Clayton felt the weight of that possibility, he never ever showed it. Throughout Saturday’s game, his colleagues noted his calm demeanor.Knowing Clayton can’t be rattled has become an issue in the NCAA tournament– for everyone else.”That’s just me, I guess, “Clayton said.”Do not get too high, don’t get too low.”