Gainesville, Fla. – Underdog Mentality Fuels Florida
For most of the season, Florida coach Todd Golden and his players have kept their “underdog” identity largely within the locker room. Privately, though, it’s been a theme the team has embraced.7
Golden’s own journey reflects that mindset. Once a walk-on at Saint Mary’s, he worked his way into a starting role on an NCAA Tournament team before arriving at Florida from the University of San Francisco as a relatively unknown figure in the Southeast. Similarly, UF’s three leading scorers—Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and Will Richard—were overlooked by major programs in their home states and found their way to Gainesville through the mid-major transfer route. Sophomores Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh also entered college ball without top-150 recruiting rankings.
Preseason expectations weren’t much higher. The 2024-25 Gators were projected to finish anywhere from sixth to ninth in most SEC forecasts.
That narrative has served them well, but this week added another layer of motivation.
The SEC announced its postseason awards Monday, with Clayton earning a spot on the All-SEC First Team and Condon on the Third Team. Yet questions remain: why wasn’t Martin recognized on the All-Defensive Team? Why wasn’t Haugh considered for Sixth Man of the Year? And why wasn’t Golden included in the Coach of the Year conversation, despite guiding UF to its second-highest regular-season win total in program history?
“Some of my guys got snubbed,” Clayton said Wednesday. “I’ve been kind of egging it on a little bit, putting it in their ears.”
That sentiment will likely carry into Friday’s SEC Tournament quarterfinal, where the fourth-ranked Gators (27-4), winners of three straight and nine of their last ten, will meet either No. 21 Missouri (21-10) or Mississippi State (21-11) at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.
First-Team All-SEC and First-Team All-America guard Walter Clayton Jr. (1)
Florida’s résumé speaks for itself: 27 wins, a runner-up finish in the SEC just one game shy of first place, one of the nation’s most dynamic offenses, and a leap from 94th nationally in defense last season to a top-10 unit this year. Yet only two players received postseason recognition.
Coach Todd Golden voiced his thoughts Wednesday, noting the contributions of Will Richard and Rueben Chinyelu.
“I’d put Will in there. I’d put Rueben [Chinyelu] in there for All-Defense,” Golden said, praising the senior guard’s shooting and the sophomore center’s defensive presence. “With Alijah and Will not making any of the all-league teams and then Alijah and Rueben not getting on all-defense, I think those are things that our team will definitely use as motivation going into this weekend. That’s how we feel about it.”
Golden also acknowledged Missouri’s Caleb Grill, who earned Sixth Man of the Year honors. Grill had torched Florida earlier in the season with 22 points and seven three-pointers in the Tigers’ upset win in Gainesville—the Gators’ only home loss of the year.
While postseason awards are deserved across the board, Golden emphasized the value of using perceived slights as fuel. “It provided some really good motivation for our guys to go to Nashville and make a statement,” he said.
“I told our guys, we have the opportunity, if we go and play well, then we’re making the right statement. And if we go there and we don’t play well, we have nothing to talk about. So, our guys are using this trip and this SEC Tournament as an opportunity to continue to play with a chip on our shoulder.”
Meanwhile, Walter Clayton Jr. has no need for added motivation. Just days after being named First-Team All-SEC, the 6-foot-2 guard earned First-Team All-America honors from The Sporting News. Remarkably, Clayton became the first player in Florida basketball history to receive such recognition from any national outlet.
Florida basketball has produced plenty of stars over the decades—Vernon Maxwell, Dan Cross, Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem, Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Corey Brewer, Taurean Green, Chandler Parsons, Scottie Wilbekin, and even Neal Walk, who averaged more than 24 points and 18 rebounds during the 1968-69 season. Yet none of them ever earned First-Team All-America honors from a national outlet.
That changed this week when Walter Clayton Jr. became the first Gator in program history to receive such recognition, courtesy of The Sporting News.
Coach Todd Golden reflected on the achievement: “It speaks to two things: Number 1, obviously, Walter’s individual success and how well he’s played all year. He’s done an incredible job leading our team. But also the success of our team. If we weren’t a top three, four team in America, Walt’s not getting that honor.”
Clayton, who averages 17.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game, echoed that sentiment. “I’ve been saying all year, a lot of stuff comes from winning,” he said. “This is a product of that, so I’m just thankful.”
Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu
