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Walter Clayton Jr. draws Steph Curry comparison from Maryland coach Kevin Willard
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Walter Clayton Jr. has established himself as a Gator Great, becoming the first first-team All-American in Florida basketball history with a standout 2024-25 season.
Last time out, Clayton led the way in getting Florida back to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2017. He scored 23 points, including 15 from beyond the 3-point line, to lift UF over UConn in a tight battle in which the Huskies led much of the 2nd half.
Next up for Clayton and the Gators is Maryland. Ahead of the game, Terrapins coach Kevin Willard shared that he was reminded of one of the greatest 3-point shooters of all time watching film of Clayton.
“He reminds me of Steph (Curry) a little bit of how good he is off the dribble,” Willard said of Clayton during a Wednesday media opportunity. “It really is amazing that he shoots — like we get a scouting report done by our analytical company. And he grades better than any player they’ve ever had analytically shooting the basketball off the dribble going right off the dribble, going left — if you go under pick-and-rolls, what he shoots.
“It’s almost an amazing stat of how good he is. When you watch him on film, what I love about him, if he misses three in a row, his body language, it don’t matter. A lot of kids get sensitive when they miss two or three in a row. He’s just going to keep coming right at you. I think that’s what makes him such a great shooter is he has so much confidence in himself that he’s going to make the next one.”
When asked about Willard’s comments, Florida coach Todd Golden noted that the Curry comparison might not be well received in San Francisco, but it’s not necessarily off base.
“I think Walt is — you can pull a lot of similarities from his style of play to NBA players. Obviously, the way he shoots the basketball. Especially to people in the Bay, it might be crazy to compare him to Steph — he’s won a ton of championships and MVPs, but from a college version, I think it’s applicable to say he’s similar to Steph,” Golden said.
“His off-balance shooting, his ability to get his shot off at different times and just his confidence to let it fly from deep. I think those things are very similar to compare to Steph. I think he plays a lot like Jalen Brunson, the way he can handle the ball, but get off it, get the ball back and be a play-maker, decision-maker.
“He’s done a great job setting up teammates all year. He’s turned into a really complete player, especially on the offensive end. He’s done a great job leading our team all year.”
Clayton and the Gators face Maryland on Thursday at 7:39 p.m. ET. Florida is a 6.5-point favorite at BetMGM Sportsbook.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
