Florida's Walter Clayton Jr. recalls final Houston play in title game, admits surprise Cougars didn't get shot

Florida Gators prima and 2025 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Walter Clayton Jr. is inactive talking to his teammates astir what happened Monday nighttime successful San Antonio. 

How could they not aft winning a hard-fought nationalist title with a 65-63 NCAA Tournament last triumph implicit the Houston Cougars? 

It came down to maximum effort connected the last play of the crippled successful which Houston, to the daze of everyone watching, ne'er got a changeable disconnected for a imaginable necktie oregon triumph arsenic the last buzzer sounded.

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Florida Gators defender Walter Clayton Jr. celebrates aft winning the 2025 nationalist title crippled astatine the Alamodome. (Bob Donnan/Imagn Images)

But Clayton and his teammates made it hard for the Cougars to get a cleanable look astatine the hoop, including Clayton's close-out connected Emanuel Sharp beyond the 3-point line, which iced the triumph aft the Houston defender couldn’t interaction the shot again aft dropping it. 

Clayton, moving a celebratory "shift" astatine Raising Cane’s successful Gainesville, Florida, Thursday, spoke to Fox News Digital astir what helium saw successful those last seconds. 

"I saw a batch going on," helium explained implicit the phone. "We felt similar they were either going to effort to get thing for [L.J.] Cryer oregon [J’Wan] Roberts. So, they ran a small enactment to the close broadside of the wing. [Florida’s] Will [Richard] and Alijah [Martin] did a bully occupation of pressuring the ball. Sharp kinda slipped down determination to the baseline. I thought helium was going to acceptable a backmost surface for Roberts, truthful I kinda got stuck down determination successful the overgarment a small bit. 

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"He ended up slipping it, truthful past conscionable reasoning successful my head, ‘Get retired determination and contention the shot.’ [I] jumped to the side, helium ended up kinda pump-faking, throwing the shot down, and I’ll decidedly accidental I was a small amazed they didn’t get a changeable disconnected knowing you person to get 1 disconnected successful the moment."

Clayton and the Gators are not complaining a changeable was ne'er enactment up by Houston. Cougars caput manager Kelvin Sampson admitted his ain astonishment during his postgame comments, saying, "You’ve gotta get a shot" successful that situation. 

Clayton gave immoderate penetration into what the Gators were looking for connected the different extremity of the level erstwhile play resumed. 

"We talked astir them moving a flare surface for Cryer oregon a backmost surface for Roberts," Clayton said. "So, we felt those were going to beryllium the 2 options they went to. They ended up throwing america disconnected with that small surprise, but we were acceptable for thing to happen."

Houston Cougars defender Emanuel Sharp (21) shoots against Florida Gators defender Walter Clayton Jr. (1) successful the 2nd fractional successful the 2025 nationalist title crippled astatine the Alamodome. (Robert Deutsch/Imagn Images)

Looking backmost astatine the last play, it appeared Houston had a play for Cryer, who took the shot up, to get it again aft immoderate screens were set. But Florida sniffed it out, and Richard was close successful his look erstwhile helium received the pass. 

Sharp past ran distant from Clayton to conscionable Cryer for a pass, and helium was hoping to get disconnected a 3-pointer for the win. But Clayton timed his leap perfectly, and the remainder goes down successful past arsenic Florida won its archetypal rubric since 2007. 

"Man, it feels great," Clayton said erstwhile asked astir being a nationalist champion. "I honestly can’t adjacent explicate the feeling. Me and immoderate of the guys are inactive talking astir it. It inactive doesn’t consciousness real, but it’s conscionable a large feeling to bring it backmost to Gainesville."

Alijah Martin, Walter Clayton Jr. and Thomas Haugh airs successful beforehand of Raising Cane's. (Raising Cane's )

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Clayton was with Martin and Thomas Haugh astatine Raising Cane's, arsenic were hundreds of Gators fans celebrating the title. 

Clayton volition beryllium successful hunt of his adjacent title successful the NBA arsenic a projected lottery prime successful this year's NBA Draft.

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