Jay Williams Has Lofty NBA Comparison for Walter Clayton Jr. Ahead of NCAA Title Game

Florida guard is raising his profile.
Florida Gators guard Walter Clayton Jr. (1) is defended by Auburn Tigers guard Miles Kelly (13) in the semifinals of the men's Final Four of the 2025 NCAA Tournament at the Alamodome.
Florida Gators guard Walter Clayton Jr. (1) is defended by Auburn Tigers guard Miles Kelly (13) in the semifinals of the men's Final Four of the 2025 NCAA Tournament at the Alamodome. / Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

Florida and Houston will play for a national championship Monday night in San Antonio and Gators guard Walter Clayton Jr. will be centerstage. The fearless sharpshooter has made more clutch shots than anyone else in the tournament and carries a 20.6 points per game scoring average into the title game. Over the weekend, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith attempted to pay the Gators a compliment by comparing him to Wade Cunningham. Jay Williams took another crack at the comp game on Monday morning's Get Up, aiming for the stars.

"I could make a case that he could be the second or third pick in the NBA draft," Williams said.

"The run this guy's on, the shots he makes, combine Damian Lillard with Steph Curry, I'm not saying he's going to reach the pinnacle of who those players are but his game to me seems like a marriage between the two."

That's extremely high praise. Clayton has obviously been a terrific player all season but his tournament run has him being painted as a combination of two surefire future NBA Hall of Famers. If he puts another 30-point performance up on Monday with even more late heroics, who knows where the comparison game will be tomorrow morning.


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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.