Men's NCAA Tourney Most Outstanding Player Walter Clayton Jr. Gets Bowman U Now Treatment
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While Walter Clayton Jr. did not light up the scoreboard the way he had through the rest of the 2025 NCAA Men's Tournament, he took over just in time. In the last eight minutes of the game, Clayton Jr. pulled his team level on three separate occasions, with two and-ones and a massive three-pointer to tie the game at 60. His quick-thinking on defense disrupted Houston's last possession, and clinched his Florida Gators' first national championship since going back-to-back in 2006 and 2007.
RELATED: Walter Clayton Jr. Cards Are A Hot Commodity With Florida Gators Playing for National Title
After a clutch performance late, to go along with masterful offensive displays in which he put up 30-plus points against Texas Tech in the Sweet Sixteen and Auburn in the Elite 8, Clayton Jr. deservedly walked away with the title, and the 2025 Men's NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Award.
JUST IN: The basketball from UF’s National Championship win is going into trading cards 🏀🐊 pic.twitter.com/7OKZy45JaO
— Topps (@Topps) April 9, 2025
As fellow Collectibles on SI writer Horacio Ruiz detailed in a recent piece, Clayton is a hot commodity, whose cards are very hard to come by. Well, the chase just got at least a little bit easier, as Topps announced the release of a Walter Clayton Jr. Bowman U Now card, released on Wednesday afternoon.
The Bowman U Now offering commemorates Walter Clayton Jr.'s winning of the MOP award, and features what for Gator fans, may become an iconic image of the star guard doing the Gator Chop on a ladder after having taken down the net following the title-game victory.
RELATED: Topps NOW New Look for 2025!
In addition to numbered parallels, the chase cards within the release will likely be the auto relic versions of the card that include a Game-Used basketball relic. In addition, depending on the overall print run, the offering would include Chrome parallels should the print run exceed 50,000. If it reaches 100,000, Chrome lower numbered parallels including a 1/1 Superfractor would be made available.
YOUR 2025 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS. pic.twitter.com/cFxOQ4NnJt
— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) April 8, 2025
A 250,000 print run would result in Opal Chrome parallels /50, /25, /10 and /5. If the print run gets to 500,000, we'd see a 1/1 White OpalFractor.
Next up for Walter Clayton Jr.? His tournament performance may just have solidified his projection as a first-round pick in the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft.
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POST MARCH MADNESS NBA MOCK DRAFT 🚨👀
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 8, 2025
By B/R's Jonathan Wasserman
32. Celtics: Johni Broome (Auburn, PF/C)
25. Hawks: Walter Clayton Jr. (Florida, PG/SG)
18. Nets: Liam McNeeley (Connecticut, SF/PF)
8. Spurs: Kon Knueppel (Duke, SG/SF)
5. 76ers: Derik Queen (Maryland, PF/C)… pic.twitter.com/VIEeLvxX8h
Michael Terry is a writer based in Brooklyn. He specializes in sports, culture, and collecting. His work has appeared at Topps RIPPED, ESPN, Grantland, Vice Sports, and more.
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