Florida Gators senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. was undoubtedly one of the best players in the men’s NCAA basketball tournament.
He leads the tournament in scoring (123 points) during the Big Dance, via CBB Analytics. He is also tied for the most 3-pointers (19), long 3-pointers beyond 25 feet (11) and the most unassisted 3-pointers made (9) as well. He has the most combined field goals made on 3-pointers and at the rim (26) and no player has drawn more shooting fouls (18) during the tournament, either.
However, on the latest consensus big board from Rookie Scale, he currently ranks at No. 46 overall. So why is that? We can look at the past to predict the future here for at least some more clarity.
Since 2009, there are 14 seniors who (like Clayton) are listed at 6-foot-2 or under to earn first-team All-American honors. Five have gone undrafted, four were picked in the second round, and five have gone in the first round. That suggests about an even distribution of possible outcomes.
Here is what three scouts recently told Adam Finkelstein about Clayton (via CBS Sports):
Scout 1: "In general, you don't want to overreact to strongly to the NCAA Tournament, but at the same time, it would be crazy to not watch what he's done the last couple of weeks and not view him in a different light."
Scout 2: "He's had the best six weeks of any player in the country and has taken himself from a late second round pick to a no brainer first round pick."
Scout 3: "He's multiplied his draft stock significantly. What he's showing with hos dynamic of a shot creator that he is and not just a shooter and play finisher, it's going to put him in a spot that we have to talk about him as a lottery level ...
