Walter Clayton Jr. completes sweep of First-Team All-American honors
GAINESVILLE, Fla — Florida Gators point guard Walter Clayton Jr. is now a consensus first-team All-American. Clayton adding to his growing list of accolades on Wednesday, receiving first-team All-America honors from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).
Clayton has swept first-team All-America honors from all four consensus selectors after being recognized by the Associated Press and The Sporting News. He is the first Gator to earn first-team All-America honors from any outlet and the first to be honored as an All-American on all four major teams.
“When we were able to bring him into the program two summers ago now, we knew he’d be really good. We thought he’d have a chance to be a really special player. I wouldn’t say it was until after last year that we thought that this would be kind of within his range of outcomes. But he had an incredible year last year. He really did,” UF coach Todd Golden said of Clayton on Tuesday.
“But playing off the ball and being with a dominant point guard, he kind of flew under the radar at times, I’d say, in terms of how special he was. But our staff had a really good idea of how good and how special he would be this year for us, especially moving on to the ball and having a little more opportunity to impact the game. But he’s been even better probably than we thought he could be, and I think he’s been the best guard in America this year.”
Clayton has helped lead the Gators to its fourth 30-win season, fifth SEC Tournament championship and third No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed in program history. He’s coming off an SEC Tournament MVP performance last weekend, leading Florida to its first conference tournament title since 2014.
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Clayton averages a team-high 17.5 points and 4.3 assists. His 1,212 points over his two years at Florida trail only the legendary Neal Walk’s scoring output over a two-season span (1,312; 1967-69).
His 190 3-pointers trail only Lee Humphrey (226, 2005-07) and Anthony Roberson (193, 2003-05) for most by a Gator over two seasons. Clayton has made a 3-pointer in a UF-record 56 straight games.
NABC All-America Teams
First Team
Johni Broome, Auburn
Walter Clayton Jr., Florida*
Cooper Flagg, Duke
Mark Sears, Alabama
Braden Smith, Purdue
Second Team
Kam Jones, Marquette
Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton
RJ Luis Jr., St. John’s
John Tonje, Wisconsin
JT Toppin, Texas Tech
Third Team
L.J. Cryer, Houston
Eric Dixon, Villanova
PJ Haggerty, Memphis
Chaz Lanier, Tennessee
Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee
USBWA All-America Teams
First Team
Johni Broome, Auburn
Walter Clayton Jr., Florida*
Cooper Flagg, Duke
Mark Sears, Alabama
Braden Smith, Purdue
Second Team
PJ Haggerty, Memphis
Kam Jones, Marquette
Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton
RJ Luis Jr., St. John’s
JT Toppin, Texas Tech
Third Team
L.J. Cryer, Houston
Hunter Dickinson, Kansas
Eric Dixon, Villanova
John Tonje, Wisconsin
Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee
Honorable Mention: Donovan Dent, New Mexico; Bennett Stirtz, Drake
