There’s a world in which Walter Clayton Jr. opted to play for Rick Pitino and St. John’s over Florida and it’s fascinating to think about.
Clayton Jr. played under Pitino for two seasons at Iona, starting during his sophomore season and became the MAAC Player of the Year. He entered the transfer portal just days after the Hall of Famer agreed to be the next head coach of the Red Storm and bringing his backcourt with him to Queens was important.
Daniss Jenkins, the point guard for Pitino with the Gaels, had already committed to the Johnnies and the full court press was on to land Clayton.
However, there was more than just basketball involved. Clayton, a Florida native, was weighting the opportunity to continue to play for Rick Pitino or move closer to his family as well as his girlfriend, who was expecting their first child.
Still, Florida head coach Todd Golden was not convinced until after a secret meeting with Clayton that he was joining the Gators.
“Really hard to beat Rick Pitino, man,” Golden said on Thursday during his press conference at the Final Four. “I thought we had a great visit. Thought it went really, really well. Thought we were in a good shape.”
Then, Clayton returned to New York to visit St. John’s and Golden began to get a bad feeling.
After his visit with the Red Storm, Golden hopped on a plane to New York to chat with Walter Clayton again and he credits that in convincing him to play in Gainesville.
“I remember Easter Sunday, he was finishing up his visit getting a call from his mom. She was a little concerned that it maybe had started swinging the other direction for him, following Pitino,” he recalled.
“I guess one of the benefits of being Jewish is that we don't celebrate Easter. Got a plane that afternoon, flew up, met with Walt on Easter Sunday evening…Had a great meal talking through everything with him. Before we left that night, he let us know he was going to come home.”
Missing out on Clayton still stings for St. John’s. It could have resulted in an NCAA Tournament bid a season ago and created more continuity with its roster that it didn’t find until it was too late.
This season, he would have provided the Red Storm what they were desperately missing – 3-point shooting. Clayton is connecting on 38.5-percent of his attempts from beyond the arc this year and has made 45.2-percent in the NCAA Tournament. His 3-pointer with under a minute to go in the Elite 8 against Texas Tech became one of the best shots in the tournament.
“I think that extra effort, going up there and sitting with him, reconfirming our vision for him, what our program would be like was really important,” Todd Golden continued. “Obviously, I'm really glad we got on that plane. It was really well worth it.”
Rick Pitino, who was in San Antonio on Friday receiving his award as the Associated Press Co-Coach of the Year, said he is not surprised by the success of Clayton this season.
“I wanted a winner at Iona, and he was a winner,” Pitino said. “And when he first came in, he struggled a bit like all freshmen do. Then he became MVP of the league. His sophomore year, he was a killer basketball player as he is now at Florida.”
“I think he’s going to be a great pro,” he continued. “He plays hurt. He plays all the time. He’s a tough kid. He makes shots. He’s a great passer. He lets the game come to him. He has quick hands…His vertical is much better than people would ever see but it was a treat coaching Walt. Great guy.”
While Pitino’s public comments about Walter Clayton were very complimentary, there must be a part of him that will wonder ‘what if’ about his ex-Iona superstar and if he could be wearing red and white this weekend at the Final Four instead of blue and orange.
Clayton and the Gators will battle SEC rival Auburn on Saturday night (6:09 p.m. ET, CBS) with a chance to advance to the National Championship game on Monday.