It was a sliding doorways second.
What if Florida star Walter Clayton Jr. selected to play soccer as an alternative of basketball?
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Would Clayton be within the NFL by now?
Would he have been faculty soccer’s subsequent nice star, as an alternative of basketball’s subsequent Steph Curry?
Would Clayton and the Gators have gained the nationwide championship?
We’ll by no means know the reply to any of those questions, as a result of fortunately for the Gators, Clayton selected hoops.
And with that, title quantity three is coming again to Gainesville.
Florida outlasted Houston 65-63 in a recreation wherein Florida led for under 64 seconds.
However when the clock hit zero, it was Clayton and the Gators who have been capable of throw their arms up in victory.
After hitting two of the most important pictures of the match, in Florida’s come-from-behind win over Texas Tech within the Elite 8, Clayton pushed the Gators previous Auburn within the Closing 4 and thru Houston within the nationwide championship to etch themselves into faculty basketball immortality.
Nonetheless, none of this could have occurred if Clayton selected to play soccer in faculty as an alternative of basketball.
Clayton was a four-star security prospect popping out of highschool, with presents from among the largest names in faculty soccer.
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Florida, Florida State, Alabama, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Nebraska, you title the varsity, and so they most likely supplied Clayton and needed him in a helmet.
As a substitute, he selected basketball and attended Iona, the little-known faculty in New Rochelle, New York, and performed below Corridor of Fame coach Rick Pitino.
Clayton thrived for 2 seasons earlier than transferring to Florida, in a full-circle second.
As for the Curry comparisons?
Clayton says not so quick.
“That is arguably the best level guard within the historical past of basketball, so I’ve obtained a methods to go,” Clayton stated after the win over Texas Tech.
March Insanity High Tales
“I would not examine myself, however simply grateful for the popularity.”
Whereas Clayton could not settle for the comparisons fairly but, the remainder of the nation has taken discover.
And his former head coach could not say sufficient good issues in regards to the star level guard and why he recruited him to return to Iona within the first place.
“We regarded on the movie, and what I favored is that he gained back-to-back highschool championships,” Pitino stated.
“I needed a winner at Iona, and he was a winner. Regardless that he was a soccer participant, I favored the way in which he handed the ball. I favored what he was doing.
“And when he first got here in, he struggled a bit like all freshmen do.
“Then he turned MVP of the league. His sophomore yr, he was a killer basketball participant as he’s now at Florida.”
Clayton selected basketball over soccer, and the remainder was historical past.
Now he’s a nationwide champion and has cemented his legacy as a Gator legend endlessly.
On the hardwood, simply as he needed.
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