Walter Clayton Jr. will be returning to Florida for his senior season

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) -Gators basketball star Walter Clayton Jr. has declared his decision to withdraw from the NBA Draft and will be returning to Florida for his final year of college basketball. He competed in the NBA G League Elite Camp, averaging 15.5 points in his two games at the event.

Clayton made this announcement through his social media accounts on Monday. This decision comes just two days after Will Richard also declared his return to the team.

This is a big win for the Gators as he became a huge part in Florida’s offense. During the 2023-24 season, Clayton emerged as Florida’s top scorer, averaging 17.6 points per game. Even more impressively, he made a team high 93 3-pointers.

His contribution was instrumental in the team’s achievement of averaging a record-breaking 85.6 points per game. Clayton’s outstanding performance earned him recognition with All-SEC honors as well as inclusion in the All-SEC Tournament team. Additionally, he led the Gators to their first appearance in the SEC Tournament championship game since 2014. Notably, Clayton’s impressive total of 633 points last season ranks as the fifth-highest single-season scoring record in the program’s history.