The start of the 2024-25 men’s college basketball campaign starts next week and ahead of the upcoming hoops action, Florida’s highly-heralded combo guard has been racking up some preseason hardware.
[autotag]Walter Clayton Jr[/autotag]., a former transfer from the Iona Gaels and one of the Gators’ top performers last season en route to an SEC Tournament Semifinals appearance and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament, earned a place on the Naismith Trophy Men’s College Player of the Year Watch List, announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club on Wednesday.
The senior from Lake Wales, Florida, posted 15 games with 20-plus points last season while knocking down 93 3-point field goals — good enough for the No. 8 single-season total in UF history. He added also All-SEC Tournament Team honors, averaging 18.5 points per game in Florida’s postseason run.
Clayton led the Gators with 17.6 points per game last season and his 633 points scored were the fifth-highest in a single season in program history. He tallied second-team All-SEC honors last season and has already been named preseason first-team All-SEC by the media heading into this season.
Florida basketball’s season opener
The Gators top off the 2024-25 campaign on Monday, Nov. 4 in the Jacksonville Sports Foundation Invitational, in which they will face the South Florida Bulls at 8:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
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