This column is about March Madness.
No, I’m not talking so much about the craziness that encapsulates the exhilarating chaos, unpredictability and incredible drama of college basketball’s most thrilling spectacle — the NCAA Tournament.
I’m talking about another kind of madness — the sheer insanity of NBA scouts who question whether Florida Gators star Walter Clayton Jr. can play in their league. Memo to Orlando Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman and other NBA GMs and scouts: Forget the advanced analytics, the endless wingspan measurements and whatever futuristic metric spits out a probability chart saying Clayton isn’t worth a pick. Just watch the games, and draft the kid if you get the chance.
Watch him bury deep 3-pointers with bodies draped all over him. Watch him take over when his team needs him most. Watch him outplay so-called “elite prospects” who check every box on a scout’s spreadsheet but disappear when the moment gets too big.
The NBA is obsessed with finding the next great theoretical player instead of drafting the one who’s already proving he can do it. Walter Clayton Jr. is a hooper, plain and simple. He wins games, makes shots and has the mentality to thrive at the next level.
Ignore the noise and draft the kid.
Clayton is lighting up college basketball’s biggest stage, draining long 3-pointers like Steph Curry, carrying the Florida Gators into the Final Four and proving time and again that he thrives under pressure.
Yet, because he’s 22 — a number that apparently makes you ancient in today’s NBA — and stands 6-foot-2 instead of 6-foot-6, teams are supposedly hesitant. That’s madness. It’s the kind of flawed thinking that sees front offices roll the dice on 18-year-old “projects” who have never faced real adversity while ignoring a battle-tested winner who has actually dominated elite competition. The NBA is supposed to be about results, not hypotheticals.
Heading into the NCAA Tournament, ESPN.com did a complete two-round mock NBA Draft in which Clayton wasn’t listed at all. He has shown up as a late first- rounder and or a second-rounder in some mock drafts since UF’s incredible postseason run, but he’s still not getting enough NBA hype for my liking.
Then again, neither is Auburn’s Johni Broome, another “too old” college veteran who was listed as a mid-second round pick in ESPN.com’s mock draft despite the fact that he has joined Elvin Hayes and Elgin Baylor as one of just three college basketball players since 1960 to score 2,500 points and pull down 1,500 rebounds. Duke freshman Cooper Flagg is the other Player-of-the-Year candidate in this year’s Final Four and he, of course, is considered the surefire No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft.
I get why young teenage phenoms like Flagg, Paolo Banchero and Victor Wembanyama become No. 1 overall picks or early first-round selections. Some players are just prodigies who are physically and mentally too good to pass up. But what I don’t understand is NBA teams, when drafting later in the first round, choosing one-and-done projects over proven college stars.
Clayton’s path to prominence is a testament to dedication and resilience. He was unrecruited by every program in his home state of Florida, signed with then-Iona coach Rick Pitino, proved himself and became a star before transferring back to the Sunshine State.
He made the all-SEC team in his first season with the Gators and became the school’s first Associated Press first-team All-American this season. He has led Florida to a 34-4 record, the SEC Tournament title and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Gators have won 10 straight games entering the Final Four — a stretch in which Clayton has averaged 20.6 points, 4.5 assists and 43 percent from 3-point range. His defining moment came during the West Regional final against Texas Tech. With the Gators trailing by nine points with under three minutes left, Clayton orchestrated a stunning comeback, scoring 13 of his 30 points down the stretch, including two clutch 3-pointers that propelled Florida to an 84-79 victory and a place in the Final Four.
In today’s NBA, you’d think his incredible 3-point range, his hair-trigger release and his ability to make shots from different angles would make him a premium prospect — especially for the Magic, who have two first-round picks and are the worst 3-point shooting team in the league. And let’s not forget that two of the greatest shooters in NBA history — Curry and Damian Lillard — were also 6-foot-2 college veterans who were considered late-bloomers. Between them, Curry (three years) and Lillard (four) spent a combined seven seasons in college.
When asked if he believes Clayton has helped his draft status during the NCAA Tournament, Gators coach Todd Golden replied: “I would hope so. I mean, who wouldn’t want that guy on their team, right? … He’s positioned himself to get drafted and be a big part of an NBA team moving forward.”
Let’s hope so.
After all, the madness of March has a way of revealing which players are built for the biggest moments.
It also has a way of revealing the madness of NBA scouts overlooking the obvious.
Walter Clayton Jr. has shown he belongs.
The biggest upset of all would be the Orlando Magic and other NBA teams burying their head in their advanced analytics and failing to take notice.
Email me at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on X (formerly Twitter) @BianchiWrites and listen to my Open Mike radio show every weekday from 6 to 9:30 a.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and 969TheGame.com/listen
