Al Horford’s courtside message to Florida basketball’s Walter Clayton Jr. after national title win

The Florida basketball program won its third national championship on Monday night with a 65-63 win over Houston, and Gators legend Al Horford greeted star guard Walter Clayton Jr. after the game, giving him a message and congratulating him on the win.

“You’re a dawg. You’re a dawg. Winner. Congrats,” Al Horford said.

Horford was a member of the Florida basketball teams that went back-to-back with Billy Donovan as head coach. Now, the Gators are back on top with Todd Golden at the helm, and Clayton’s heroics throughout the tournament are a big reason why. He came up big in the second-round game against UConn that could have gone the other way, as well as the Texas Tech and Auburn games in the Elite Eight and Final Four. Clayton is known for making off-balance, contested three-point shots that the defense can do nothing about. He had a bit of a rough game against Houston, but showed up in the closing minutes to help the Gators get over the hump.

Clayton finishes his senior year as a national champion. He started his college career at Iona in the 2021-2022 season, but did not become a starter until the 2022-23 season under Rick Pitino. The Gaels were knocked out in the first round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament by eventual champion UConn. Clayton then entered the transfer portal as Pitino left Iona for the St. John’s head coaching job. That is when Clayton joined Golden’s Florida program.

Clayton earned All-SEC honors two times, among other awards during his two years at Florida. He is a success story that benefitted from the modern age of college sports, specifically with the transfer portal. He turned his quality second season at Iona into an opportunity to lead a high major program, and now he can go out on top as a national champion.

Ryan Bologna is an experienced sports writer covering the NFL, MLB, and NCAA Basketball for ClutchPoints. He studied journalism and communication at UConn, and has bylines at New York Sports Nation and the Greenwich Free Press.