New father, Bartow grad Clayton thriving in first season with Gators after transfer

LAKELAND — When Walter Clayton Jr. last played in the RP Funding Center in the spring of 2021, he led Bartow to its second consecutive boys basketball state title. Clayton returned to the scene of that triumph on Thursday and led the Gators to a victory over East Carolina to remain undefeated in the arena.

Clayton scored 22 points in the 70-65 win. He’s been the leader of Gators and is thriving in his first year in the SEC, but that has hardly been his highlight of the week or his season.

The junior guard became a father last week when his girlfriend, Tatiyana Burney, gave birth to Leilani Leigh Clayton (6 pounds, 7 ounces) on Dec. 11. And he’s already sacrificing for his daughter.

“This week, my back hurts a little bit from sleeping on that hospital bed, that couch that they had in there for me,” Clayton said. “ But it’s just been good. Everything went well, healthy baby, my girl healthy so it’s just been good.”

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Clayton had been excused from practices to be with Burney, missing Monday and Tuesday before returning Gainesville on Wednesday.

“I give him a lot of credit because he was getting pulled in a lot of different directions and trying to be a great father, a great man along with being a great teammate. And sometimes it's really hard to do both in this situation," Gators coach Todd Golden said. "His teammates really support him and had his back this week and understood the situation that he was in. It's a lot for a 20-year-old. It'd be a lot for me at, at 38. But obviously, he did what he needed to do to get back to campus on Wednesday to make practice and be with the team and get himself in a good headspace for the game. And obviously his play tonight exhibited that.”

Being close to family was an important reason he transferred to Florida after two season playing for Rick Pitino at Iona. When he was making his decision, coaches who did not show interest the first time got return phone calls. None of the major state school showed major interest when he was in high school; only Jacksonville and Florida Gulf Coast offered him a scholarship.

Golden was not the Gators’ coach at the time, so Clayton was willing listen to him. Florida had been his dream school when he was in high school, so in the end, it wasn’t a hard decision.

“The weather, I walk outside and it’s sunny every day,” Clayton said jokingly about the difference between Iona and Florida. “But no, just the environment. There’s just a little different environment walking in every day — very close-knit here, a family, just a different environment.”

The Gators couldn't be happier, either. After scoring 22 points against East Carolina, including 20 in the first half, Clayton is averaging a team-leading 16.5 points and 1.7 steals. He's also averaging 3.6 assists and 38 rebounds.

"Through the evaluation process on the film, you see a guy that's a really talented player, a great three level scorer, a  guy that can really make plays for his team, just a really efficient and effective guard," Golden said. "When you get to know him as a person, he's a warrior man, he's a warrior. He's the kind of guy that as a coach, he gives you confidence when you're on the floor when you have guys that they believe, they trust and they don't get rattled."

At Iona, Clayton was immediately an impact player. He was named Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year after averaging 16.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.3 steals and was a unanimous all-conference selection.

He has become an even more complete player since leading the Yellow Jackets to a 72-45 victory over Hialeah Gardens Mater Academy in the Class 6A state championship game.

"I’m a lot better mentally for sure," Clayton said. "I would say I’ve learned a lot of things from being up at Iona with coach P (Pitino) and then being here with Coach Golden at Florida, so I’m just continuing to learn and get better."

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Florida basketball's Walter Clayton Jr. finds balance of game, fatherhood