Senior Night at the O-Dome will be extremely emotional

Will Richard (5) was one of Todd Golden's first recruits (Photo by Chris Spears)

It is going to be emotional at the O-Dome tonight, make no mistake about it. Senior Night is always like that, but this one is probably more meaningful for Walter Clayton Jr., Will Richard and Alijah Martin than anyone can imagine.  

There is no understating the impact Clayton, Richard and Martin have had as 5th-ranked Florida (26-4, 13-4 SEC) closes out the regular season with Ole Miss (21-9, 10-7 SEC) tonight (6 p.m., SEC Network). They are Florida’s leading scorers but their influence on the team goes far beyond points on the scoreboard. They defend, they rebound, they unselfishly give up the basketball to teammates who might have a better shot. They don’t complain about who’s scoring more or playing more minutes. They’re all about winning and that rubs off on teammates.

Perhaps as important as anything else, Clayton, Richard and Martin play with the proverbial chip on their shoulders that comes from the feeling they have to constantly prove they belong. None of them were recruited by the Gators coming out of high school, so first they had to prove they belong at schools that spend their lives traveling in a different orbit than the Southeastern Conference.

Richard transferred to Florida after one year at Belmont, a private school that plays in the Ohio Valley Conference. Clayton, who was thought to be a better football prospect coming out of high school in Polk County transferred to Florida after playing for Rick Pitino two years at Iona of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Martin was like Clayton, thought to be a better football prospect as a safety coming out of North Pike High School in Summit, Mississippi. He played four years for former Gator assistant Dusty May at Florida Atlantic, helping the Owls to a magical Final Four run in 2023.

So here they are at Florida where they have proven themselves as scorers, defenders, passers, unselfish teammates who don’t care who scores or grabs the headlines as long as the Gators win, and as team leaders.

Richard was one of Todd Golden’s first recruits when he took the Florida job three years ago. In his time at Florida he has scored 1,146 points, averaging 11.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.

In Golden’s second year, Clayton came to the Gators via the portal. In his two years at UF, he has scored 1,127 points, averaging 17.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.

Martin came to Florida as a graduate transfer. In this, his only season as a Gator, Martin has scored 14.5 points per game to go with 4.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

Because the three are so good on the perimeter it has given Florida’s young big guys room to grow to the point that now the Gators have what many experts consider the most well-constructed roster in the country. The Gators have proven in 30 games that they are capable of playing and winning in any style, something that couldn’t and wouldn’t happen if the three guys on the perimeter was consumed with themselves.  

So tonight, Clayton, Richard and Martin close the curtain on their final seasons of college basketball before a sold out crowd that no doubt will show its appreciation for what they have done to elevate the Gators to elite status. The Gators are the only team in the country with two wins over No. 1 teams (Tennessee and Auburn) and the only one in the country with two road wins over top ten programs (Auburn and Alabama)

None of this could have happened without the contributions of Clayton, Richard and Martin, who will have their moment to shine pregame during the Senior Night ceremonies. It will be emotional and very meaningful time for the three, who will then have to go out and help the Gators finish the regular season on a strong note.  

“I think it will be emotional in a good way, but it's part of what comes with senior night, you know, and all three of our perimeter players have all impacted our program in a huge way, in different ways, and have all been very responsible for the success we've had this year,” Golden said said. “So they deserve it. I'm excited for them that we get to celebrate them, and everything we got to make sure we get a win tomorrow night. It's going to be a really big challenge, and we just want to make sure we send them out the right way.”

Game notes: With a win tonight, the Gators will have matched the 2006-07 team for the most regular season wins (26) in school history … The Gators have the No. 4 spot in both the NCAA NET rankings and the kenpom.com analytics … Florida is now on the No. 1 line for both Joe Lundardi (ESPN) and Jerry Palm (CBS).

No. 5 FLORIDA (26-4, 13-4 SEC): Alex Condon (6-11, 230, SO); Rueben Chinyelu (6-10, 255, SO); Will Richard (6-4, 206, SR); Alijah Martin (6-2, 195, GR); Walter Clayton Jr. (6-2, 195, SO)

Ole Miss (21-9, 10-7 SEC): Malik Dia (6-9, 250, JR); Dre Davis (6-6, 216 SR); Matthew Murrell (6-4, 205, SR); Jaylen Murray (5-11, 165, SR); Sean Padulla (6-1, 195, SR)

Today’s games

Ole Miss (21-9, 10-7 SEC) at No. 5 FLORIDA (26-5, 13-4 SEC)

No. 7 Alabama (23-7, 12-5 SEC) at No. 1 Auburn (27-3, 15-2 SEC)

South Carolina (12-18, 2-15 SEC) at No. 4 Tennessee (23-7, 11-6 SEC)

No. 19 Kentucky (20-10, 9-8 SEC) at No. 15 Missouri (21-9, 10-7 SEC)

No. 22 Texas A&M (21-9, 10-7 SEC) at LSU (14-16, 3-14 SEC)

No. 25 Mississippi State (20-10, 8-9 SEC) at Arkansas (18-12, 7-10 SEC)

Vanderbilt (20-10, 8-9 SEC) at Georgia (19-11, 7-10 SEC)

Oklahoma (18-12, 5-12 SEC) at Texas (17-13, 6-11 SEC)

SEC BASKETBALL: THE SCRAMBLE FOR SEEDING

The final regular season games should have a direct impact on seeding for both the SEC and NCAA tournaments. Auburn and Florida have wrapped up a 1-2 finish in the regular season, but there is plenty of room to roam for the rest of the league.

Even with a loss today at No. 1 Auburn, Alabama has clinched a top four finish for the double bye at the SEC Tournament in Nashville. The Crimson Tide is currently No. 3 but would drop down to No. 4 with a loss coupled with a win by Tennessee over South Carolina. A Bama loss and a Tennessee win would result in identical SEC records, but Tennessee owns the tiebreaker by virtue of beating Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

Currently, Kentucky finds itself as the No. 8 seed which means the Wildcats barely miss having to play opening night (Wednesday). A Kentucky loss coupled with a Mississippi State win at Arkansas would result in a tie for No. 8. If that happened, Mississippi State would assume the No. 8 spot while Kentucky would be forced to play Wednesday.

If the SEC Tournament were held today

Wednesday’s games

1. 16 South Carolina vs. 9 Mississippi State

2. 13 Texas vs. 12 Georgia

3. 15 LSU vs. 10 Vanderbilt

4. 14 Oklahoma vs. 11 Arkansas

Thursday’s games

5. Winner game 1 vs. 8 Kentucky

6. Winner 2 vs. 5 Texas A&M

7. Winner game 3 vs. 7 Ole Miss

8. Winner 4 vs. 6 Missouri

Friday quarter-finals

9. Winner game 5 vs. 1 Auburn

10. Winner game 6 vs. 4 Tennessee

11. Winner game 7 vs. 2 FLORIDA

12. Winner game 8 vs. 3 Alabama