Florida Gators star and 2025 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Walter Clayton Jr. is still talking to his teammates about what happened Monday night in San Antonio.
How could they not after winning a hard-fought national championship with a 65-63 NCAA Tournament final win over the Houston Cougars?
It came down to maximum effort on the final play of the game in which Houston, to the shock of everyone watching, never got a shot off for a potential tie or win as the final buzzer sounded.
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But Clayton and his teammates made it difficult for the Cougars to get a clean look at the hoop, including Clayton’s close-out on Emanuel Sharp beyond the 3-point line, which iced the victory after the Houston guard couldn’t touch the ball again after dropping it.
Clayton, working a celebratory “shift” at Raising Cane’s in Gainesville, Florida, Thursday, spoke to Fox News Digital about what he saw in those final seconds.
“I saw a lot going on,” he explained over the phone. “We felt like they were either going to try to get something for [L.J.] Cryer or [J’Wan] Roberts. So, they ran a little action to the right side of the wing. [Florida’s] Will [Richard] and Alijah [Martin] did a good job of pressuring the ball. Sharp kinda slipped down there to the baseline. I thought he was going to set a back screen for Roberts, so I kinda got stuck down there in the paint a little bit.
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“He ended up slipping it, so then just thinking in my head, ‘Get out there and contest the shot.’ [I] jumped to the side, he ended up kinda pump-faking, throwing the ball down, and I’ll definitely say I was a little surprised they didn’t get a shot off knowing you have to get one off in the moment.”
Clayton and the Gators are not complaining a shot was never put up by Houston. Cougars head coach Kelvin Sampson admitted his own surprise during his postgame comments, saying, “You’ve gotta get a shot” in that situation.
Clayton gave some insight into what the Gators were looking for on the other end of the floor when play resumed.
“We talked about them running a flare screen for Cryer or a back screen for Roberts,” Clayton said. “So, we felt those were going to be the two options they went to. They ended up throwing us off with that little surprise, but we were ready for anything to happen.”
Looking back at the final play, it appeared Houston had a play for Cryer, who took the ball up, to get it again after some screens were set. But Florida sniffed it out, and Richard was right in his face when he received the pass.
Sharp then ran away from Clayton to meet Cryer for a pass, and he was hoping to get off a 3-pointer for the win. But Clayton timed his jump perfectly, and the rest goes down in history as Florida won its first title since 2007.
“Man, it feels great,” Clayton said when asked about being a national champion. “I honestly can’t even explain the feeling. Me and some of the guys are still talking about it. It still doesn’t feel real, but it’s just a great feeling to bring it back to Gainesville.”
Clayton was with Martin and Thomas Haugh at Raising Cane’s, as were hundreds of Gators fans celebrating the title.
Clayton will be in search of his next championship in the NBA as a projected lottery pick in this year’s NBA Draft.
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