SAN ANTONIO -- Nobody is enjoying a bigger or better NCAA Tournament than Walter Clayton Jr.
The 6-foot-3 senior from Lake Wales, Fla., poured in 34 points in Florida’s national semifinal victory over Auburn that propelled the Gators into Monday’s NCAA championship game against Houston. In five NCAA Tournament games, Clayton has combined to score 123 points. He’s averaging 24.6 points while shooting 49% from deep in the tournament.
And NBA scouts and executives are taking notice.
“He has helped himself more with his draft stock than any other player in the tournament,” one NBA executive told NJ Advance Media. “He is going in the first round.”
The consensus seems to be that Clayton -- who was playing for Iona in the MAAC a few years ago and nearly followed Rick Pitino to St. John’s -- could go anywhere from the mid-first round to the early second.
Pitino, for one, believes his former star is deserving of being a lottery pick
“I think he’s put himself in the lottery,” Pitino, who coached the Knicks and the Celtics, said Sunday after winning Naismith Coach of the Year honors. “If you look at it, there are similarities to what Steph Curry did at Davidson. And when you watch him play, he goes by people. He’s got a great burst. He’s 6-3, he shoots it incredible with range and drives to the basketball well, has great hands. So he’s he’s earning and deserving what he’s getting.”
Added one NBA scout: “[Clayton is a] complete dog. Shot-maker. I thought he might be just a standstill catch and shoot guy. He might be a fringe lottery guy, there are some limitations there. But the shot creation and toughness and shooting, it’s going to be hard to surpass.”
Still, because Clayton is 22, many NBA personnel will be inclined to take younger guards in the NBA Draft lottery.
Dylan Harper of Rutgers, VJ Edgecombe of Baylor, Kasparas Jakucionis of Illinois, Tre Johnson of Texas, Jeremiah Fears of Oklahoma, Jase Richardson of Michigan State and Egor Demin of BYU are all projected lottery picks -- and are all teenagers.
“People ALWAYS choose youth first,” a second NBA executive said.
“Younger and [a] longer runway via age is always the play for most front office evaluators.”
Other NBA personnel agree. One said Clayton was not a first-round pick in his view.
“But [he] probably will be based on the tournament run he has had,” the third NBA executive said. “Every year someone gets the tournament bump. He has certainly earned it based on his play and Florida winning.”
Jalen Brunson was 21 when he came out of Villanova in 2018, and was chosen 33rd by the Dallas Mavericks.
He’s turned himself into an All-NBA First-Team selection with the Knicks.
Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting believes Clayton could have a similar career arc to Brunson.
“Jalen was a better college player than Walter is,” DeCourcy said. “But I see the same concept of why he’s being overlooked that I saw back in 2018. I knew Jalen was going to be a very good NBA player. This good, I’m not going to pretend I knew that. But I knew he was more of a first-round pick. I don’t have any doubt of that with Walter. You just don’t do the things he’s doing, and not be able to translate some of it to the NBA.”
Pitino, Clayton’s former coach and the man who also coached Donovan Mitchell at Louisville, agrees.
“Look, you’ve got to be ready for the NBA, Walter is,” Pitino said. “A lot of teams, if they if they want a guy that shoots the ball. Great. remember, the NBA is all about shooting, yeah, and here’s a guy physically ready to play in the NBA.”
Asked how it feels watching Clayton light it up for Florida after he nearly chose St. John’s, Pitino said: “I’m very proud. I’m very happy for him and his future more than anything else, and I’m very pleased that he has a chance to win the national championship.”
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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter and Basketball Insider for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.