SAN ANTONIO – The trajectory of Walter Clayton’s progression from great player to maybe the greatest in University of Florida history was reset, of all places, at Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen in Lakeland, Florida.

That was the place Clayton suggested he and Kevin Hovde go for lunch when the UF assistant coach visited his standout guard last summer in Polk County. It was there, about 45 minutes from Clayton’s hometown of Lake Wales, Florida, that Hovde popped open his laptop and showed his talented player about a half-dozen actions used by the New York Knicks for their NBA All-Star guard Jalen Brunson. 

“Cheddar’s,” Hovde said. “Can you believe it?”

Given what Clayton eventually made of that meeting – most recently, his epic and career-high 34-point outburst Saturday against Auburn at the Final Four to surge the Gators (35-4) into Monday night’s NCAA championship game against Houston (35-4) – it probably could have gone down at the local Krystal’s.

“He showed me some stuff and we talked about some things he wanted to do with the offense,” Clayton said. 

Specifically, how to better fold Clayton’s uncanny scoring skills into the point guard position. 

To be clear, Clayton had been a point guard before. He played the position magnificently at both Lake Wales and Bartow high schools in Central Florida and had on-ball responsibilities in his two seasons at Iona, where he was 2023 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year before transferring to the University of Florida after guiding the Gaels to a league title and NCAA Tournament berth. 

About six weeks after arriving at UF, the Gators added another transfer, California-Riverside point guard Zyon Pullin, who would go on to first-team All-Southeastern Conference honors in his lone season and become one of the nation’s leaders in assist-to-turnover ratio. Clayton, his backcourt sidekick, lead the team in scoring. 

But then came the meeting last summer. Meetings, actually. The first was a face-to-face between Hovde, the team’s offensive coordinator, and former Gators coach Billy Donovan, now with the NBA Chicago Bulls. Donovan saw similarities to Clayton’s game and Brunson, a score-first point guard, and suggested the Gators dig into the tape and so some pilfering. 

And pilfer they did. 

Hovde asked Clayton to pick the two or three actions he liked best, then went to work. 

“The way Brunson plays, a lot of teams try to deny him because he’s so good at getting into the paint and playing off two feet,” Clayton said Sunday. “He’s a point guard, but he’s scoring a lot. He’s getting off the ball – fire actions – and getting it right back with dribble handoffs. We watched a lot of film of ways he was scoring and getting open off dribble penetration. I liked that.” 

Clayton, his Florida teammates and Gator Nation have learned to love it, but Monday night will be the greatest test to date when the best offensive player in the country faces Houston, the best defense in the country; a unit far more tenacious than any UF has faced this season. 

“Think Tennessee, but better,” UF defensive coordinator John Andrzejek said of the all-too-familiar Volunteers, who finished the season with the nation’s No. 3 defense. “A lot better.”

The Cougars, who have won 31 of the last 32 games, give up an NCAA-leading 58.5 points per game and allowed just four teams to reach 70 points in regulation this season. They deploy a lot of the same aggressive tactics as Tennessee – blitzing ball-screens and double-teaming ball-handlers – but in a devastatingly more efficient manner. They force turnovers on 21% of opponent’s possessions. 

The Gators, who averaged 85.3 points this season, thrive on ball screens intended to get Clayton into open spaces and lanes to shoot or penetrate. Just like the Knicks do, in a far more complicated way, with Brunson, yet it’s all relative, especially given the level at which Clayton is performing right now in compiling NCAA Tournament averages of 24.6 points, 50% shooting from the floor, 48.7% on 39 attempts from the 3-point arc and 90.4% on 42 free-throw tries. 

“Walt is going to get the most attention on the scout,” said assistant coach and director of player development Taurean Green, who came to UF from the Chicago Bulls, where he worked in a similar capacity with Donovan and, thus, got some up-close looks at the Knicks. “New York does a great job of getting Brunson off the ball and getting him back on the ball. I think it’s a great comparison. Similar size and as far as being crafty and being able to get his shot off. In that way, Walt has been elite.”

Generational, actually. 

But this irresistible force of a postseason run (which includes MVP honors in guiding the Gators to the SEC Tournament title) is about to meet the closest thing to an immovable object that college basketball has seen in some time. Yes, the Cougars are that good on defense. 

“Incredibly physical. They consistently put two on the ball and will try to make it a football game and a war on the glass for every rebound, every loose ball, every hustle play and winning play,” said UF director of basketball strategy and analytics Jonathan Safir. “They are going to try to force the ball out of Walt’s hands and make other people be decision-makers.”

Added Hovde: “They’re very committed to what they do. They play man, but they’re going to trap the ball in any ball-screen situation or in the low-post. They’ll put two on the ball and rotate over and make you make plays.”

All similar to what Tennessee does. The Gators went 2-1 against the Volunteers this season, winning by 30 at home on Jan. 7 when UT was ranked No. 1. Florida lost by 20 on Feb. 1 at Knoxville – UF’s 44 points were its second-fewest of the 38-year-old shot-clock era – in a game where Clayton sprained his ankle but returned to play an ineffective, scoreless second half. The teams broke the tie with the Gators’ 86-77 victory in the SEC Tournament championship game March 16 at Nashville, Tenn. 

Worth noting: Houston eliminated Tennessee, 69-50, from the tournament in the Midwest Region final eight days ago at. The Vols had 15 points at the half. 

In three games against the Vols, Clayton averaged 13.0 points, shot 31.7% from the floor and made seven of 26 from deep (26.9%). They “X’ed” him on the scouting report, made him a priority and dared others to beat them. The strategy was effective in neutralizing Clayton, but the Gators won twice.

“I wouldn’t say Tennessee took me out of my game, [but] they forced tough shots,” Clayton said. “Both are great teams and it should be a great one [Monday].”

He’s going to need lots of help from wing men Alijah Martin and Will Richard in the backcourt, as well as the rotating frontcourt foursome that will have to be constantly on the move and looking to make space and be ready both to get the ball and give it right back to their star for offensive resets. 

“We can’t just run away and roll to the basket,” junior backup center Micah Handlogten said. “We actually have to go help him.”

It’ll take everything Clayton and his teammates have – including the best clips from Cheddar’s – to solve the Cougars. 

Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu