Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. was selected by the Utah Jazz with the 18th pick in the NBA Draft, welcomed into the league by commissioner Adam Silver at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Wednesday. The Washington Wizards held the 18th pick and agreed to a trade with Utah just ahead of the selection.
 
A native of Lake Wales, Fla., Clayton becomes the 38th player drafted in Florida history and the 13th in the first round. He is the first Gator to be drafted by the Jazz.
 
“I feel like I gained a lot, just being around those guys [at Florida], my teammates,” Clayton said on ESPN following his selection. “I don’t think people understand just the chemistry we had on and off the court and time that we spent together.”

“It starts with his character – he’s just an amazing young man,” head coach Todd Golden told NBA TV at Barclays Center ahead of the draft. “Incredibly coachable, a guy that wants to be a leader and a great work ethic, and obviously over the last year I’d argue he was the best player in college basketball. He led us to 36 wins and a national championship, best player on the floor in the SEC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament, a guy that just has a great competitive nature about him.”

 

Go be great, 1#NBADraft pic.twitter.com/5QGooiOUQh

— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) June 26, 2025

 
Clayton averaged 18.3 points and led the Gators to the 2025 national championship, earning consensus first-team All-American, Final Four and NCAA West Regional Most Outstanding Player, SEC Tournament MVP and first-team All-SEC honors this season. His 713 points scored set Florida’s single-season record, and he became the first Gators to score more than 100 points in a single NCAA Tournament (134).
 
His 1,346 points as a Gator rank 24th in Florida history, also the most points over a two-season span in Florida history. Clayton holds two of the six highest-scoring seasons in program history, including a UF-record 713 in 2024-25. He graduated from UF in Spring 2025 with a degree in Educational Sciences.
 
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