"[Stephen Curry], Jamal Murray": NCAA champion Walter Clayton Jr. names who inspires his game

NCAA Basketball: Final Four National Championship-Houston vs Florida - Source: Imagn — NCAA Basketball: Final Four National Championship-Houston vs Florida - Image Source: Imagn

Walter Clayton Jr. was one of the driving forces for the Florida Gators this season as they won the national championship. Although he only put up 11 points in the final against Houston on Monday, he was one of the team's best players throughout the tournament. Notably, he put up 30+ point performances in the Final Four and Elite Eight.

Clayton Jr. was the Gators' leading scorer this season, averaging 18.3 points per game. Since the national championship game, he has drawn some impressive comparisons. Notably, Jay Williams compared him to NBA superstars Steph Curry and Damian Lillard. Clayton Jr. appeared on 'First Take' on Friday and discussed this comparison.

"It's a little crazy to me just hear that to me personally. Those are two of the greats. I got a long way to go before I even get close to that. Honestly, I'm just thankful for the recognition though."

Clayton Jr. was then asked who he thinks of as his NBA comparable:

"I wouldn't say me personally, obviously you hear the ones, Curry, Jamal Murray. I just try to take bits and pieces from different player's games."

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Walter Clayton Jr. has completed four college seasons, including two with the Florida Gators.

When will Walter Clayton Jr. be taken in the 2025 NBA draft?

After the 2024 college basketball season, Walter Clayton Jr. declared for the NBA draft. However, he later decided to withdraw and return to the Gators for his senior season. He will not have that opportunity again as he is out of NCAA eligibility.

Throughout this season, it has been clear that Clayton Jr. is an NBA-caliber prospect. He was the leading scorer on one of the nation's best teams and later led them to a national title. However, it is less clear where he will go in the draft.

While his exact draft position is not clear, his draft stock certainly went up with the national title. CBS Sports conducted a new mock draft on Wednesday and had Clayton Jr. jumping up into the draft lottery. The lottery is the top 14 picks because those are the teams that are eligible to win the lottery and select first.

In the mock draft, CBS Sports had Clayton Jr. going 12th to the Chicago Bulls. He impressed teams during the NCAA Tournament, shooting at a 43.5% rate from beyond the 3-point arc. Although he is an older prospect, he drew comparisons to Houston guard Fred VanVleet.

About the author

Alexander O'Reilly is a journalist at Sportskeeda from Kingston, Ontario with over seven years in the field at companies including SenShot, RVBlogger, Monarch Media, WordAgents, GSeC LLC, and IGC.

His favorite college team is Duke, and his favorite sporting memory was Duke winning March Madness in 2010. JJ Redick was Alex's favorite college player when he was young but more recently, Caleb Williams gets the nod. As the Chicago Bears are Alex's favorite NFL team, this was a perfect match.

Alex's proudest moment came when he was interviewed by a radio station in Ottawa on his opinion on recent moves by the Ottawa Senators, which gave him a confidence boost and the knowledge that he could succeed as a writer.

Aside from sports, Alex likes to spend his time playing games. He is also very passionate about running and strives to improve at the half and full marathon distances.

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Edited by Rajdeep Barman