Walter Clayton Jr. commits to Florida Gators over St. John’s

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Walter Clayton Jr. is coming home. The Iona point guard committed to the Florida Gators on Tuesday over St. John’s, turning down his former coach Rick Pitino.

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Clayton is ranked No. 18 nationally in the On3 transfer portal player rankings, becoming the highest-ranked transfer landed by UF coach Todd Golden and his staff.

The 2023 MAAC Player of the Year entered the portal March 21 after Pitino left to coach the Red Storm. Clayton then officially visited Florida and St John’s, the only schools he considered.

The opportunity to return to his home state of Florida, be the Gators’ starting point guard in the SEC and play for Golden and his staff made Gainesville the perfect landing spot for Clayton.

Clayton averaged 16.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists for the Gaels, leading them to a No. 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament. He also led the country with a 95.3 free throw percentage.

Clayton will have two years of college eligibility remaining with the Gators, who have also signed Marshall center Micah Handlogten and Yale forward EJ Jarvis from the transfer portal.

Handlogten, who is ranked No. 32 nationally by On3 and signed on Monday, held the distinction of Golden’s highest-ranked transfer for just one day. The previous high was Alex Fudge, who was ranked the No. 67 overall in the On3 transfer portal player rankings for the 2022 class.

Background on Walter Clayton Jr.

After starting four games as a freshman, Clayton made 31 starts last year and averaged 30.4 minutes per game. He finished in double figures 27 times and scored 20 or more points in 12 games.

Clayton’s 2022-23 season was highlighted by a career-high 30 points at Niagara and a 22-point performance in a rematch against the Purple Eagles in the MAAC Championship Game.

Clayton is from Lake Wales, Florida and attended Bartow High School, where he was a dual-sport athlete in basketball and football. He was offered a scholarship by former UF coach Dan Mullen.

“He was heavily recruited by Power 5 schools like Notre Dame, Georgia, and Florida as a quarterback and wide receiver,” Pitino said when he signed Clayton. “He chose Iona because basketball is his first love. At 6-2, Walter has good size and distributes the ball very well. He comes from an outstanding Bartow program that went 31-1 (in 2021).”

The Gators now have a trio of top transfers in Clayton, Handlogten and Jarvis to join returning players Fudge, Denzel Aberdeen, Riley Kugel, Will Richard and Aleks Szymczyk on the 2023-24 roster.

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