Senior guard Walter Clayton Jr., dealing with a left ankle sprain, hopes to play in Tuesday night's SEC game against Vanderbilt.
With just over a minute left in the first half on Saturday, senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. controlled the ball on the wing during Florida’s halfcourt set. As he leapt to deliver a pass, his left foot came down on Tennessee forward Darlinstone Dubar, causing his ankle to roll and sending the Gators’ standout crashing to the floor.
While play continued toward the opposite end, Clayton remained on the court, clutching his ankle and grimacing in pain. He stayed down for several minutes before being assisted to the locker room by the UF medical staff, as the Florida bench watched anxiously.
And so did Gator Nation.
"He's our leader. He's our best player," UF sophomore forward Thomas Haugh said. "Yes, it affected us."
In the moment, it would have been easy to assume the worst, given the optics. But Clayton and the Gators, by the grace of the orange-and-blue hoops gods, appear to have dodged a season-altering catastrophe.
"I've rolled a lot of ankles, but this was probably the worst one because I came down and all my weight was on that foot," said Clayton, the 2024 All-Southeastern Conference selection and team's scoring leader the last two seasons. "It hurt pretty bad, but I'd done it so many times that after walking around, moving on it a little bit, I wasn't too worried."
Clayton, named this week to the Bob Cousy Award midseason "watch list" that honors the nation's top point guard, returned to play in the second half of what turned into an ugly 64-44 loss. He didn't play particularly well, going scoreless in 10 minutes, but seeing Clayton on the court and battling through the pain was an encouraging sign relative to his availability, starting Tuesday night when the No. 6 Gators (18-3, 5-3) play host to Vanderbilt (16-5, 4-4) at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center.
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]
"I think we avoided anything too serious, which is awesome," UF coach Todd Golden said Monday of his gifted playmaker averaging 17.2 points per game. "I think [Tuesday], when he wakes up, will be a big determinant in if he goes or not."
Walter Clayton Jr. (1) tried to play through the pain Saturday, but just wasn't himself in the second.
On Monday, Clayton watched practice at the O'Dome while wearing a device that sends shock waves to the swollen area. The last three nights were spent sleeping in a Game Ready wrap that applies cold therapy and compression. The treatment has been constant since Saturday and will remain so until game time. Whatever it takes.
"I mean, if I got a chance to play I'm going to play, especially knowing my team needs me out there," Clayton said.
The best chance the Gators have to rebound from their worst performance of the season (of the last two seasons, actually) is with Clayton in the lineup against a Commodores team that struggles defensively, counter to a Tennessee squad that unleashed the full fury of a defense rated No. 1 nationally in overall efficiency. The Volunteers denied Florida virtually every element of its high-octane offense and did it so completely – UF shot 24.7 percent for the game, made just four of 27 from the 3-point line and scored the fewest points in 35 years – it may be worth chalking up as an outlier; especially considering how the Gators manhandled the then-No. 1 Vols by 30 points in their first meeting a month earlier at the O'Dome.
Sometimes it's like that.
"You know what? They're pretty dang good man," Golden said of a UT team that a week earlier went to top-ranked Auburn and thoroughly frustrated the Tigers and their No. 1-rated offense before losing a 53-51 slobber-knocker. "I thought Tennessee played with a lot of grit in terms of their mentality and the way they wanted to control the game. It's been an area that we've been able to do most of our contests this year: control and dictate. So we tip our cap to them. Obviously, they played really freaking well and we weren't at our best, but I'm excited to get back out there [Tuesday] night, for sure."
Preferably with a full complement of players.
Hey Walt! What are the chances?
"I don't want to put a number on it," Clayton said. "It's hour by hour right now."
Zero hour is 7 p.m.
