Until Bruce Pearl arrived in 2014 and delivered the program to its first-ever National Championship in 2019, Charles Barkley was everything for Auburn basketball. The legendary Tiger is still unabashed in his Auburn support, ending the CBS pregame show before Saturday night’s 79-73 loss to Florida in the Final Four with three important words, “War Damn Eagle.”
Yet, even Barkley had to acknowledge the greatness of Florida point guard and First-Team All-American Walter Clayton Jr. after his 34-point outburst. Clayton thoroughly outdueled SEC Player of the Year Johni Broome, who visibly slowed in the second half, managing just three points after a 12-point first half led to an eight-point halftime lead.
After acknowledging that “Florida was the better team,” Barkley addressed an even more obvious reality. “You said it Kenny and Clark said, don’t say it more and don’t say it less, Walter Clayton is the real deal,” The 1983-84 SEC Player of the Year immediately after the Auburn loss. “He is the real deal and the thing is, he kept them in it when they were struggling, and then the rest of the guys joined the party.”
Walter Clayton Jr. and Todd Golden end Auburn’s NCAA Tournament run
Saturday night was Clayton’s second consecutive 30-point performance after eclipsing that threshold last weekend in the Elite Eight win over Texas Tech. In the Final Four, the Iona transfer, who is quickly rising up NBA draft boards, went 11-18 from the field and 5-8 from three, and was impossible for Auburn to keep out of the paint all night long.
Barkley later credited Florida head coach and former Bruce Pearl assistant Todd Golden. Coming into this NCAA Tournament, the former San Francisco head coach was still searching for his first March Madness victory, and now he’s one win away from his first national title.
“I want to give Coach Golden some love too. His strategy was fantastic,” Barkley said. “Auburn got lulled to sleep because you could tell Coach Pearl had said, ‘we don’t want to get into a run-and-gun situation’ so they’re just walking the ball up the floor.” The legendary big man then went on to explain how Florida effectively wore down Broome, an Auburn legend in his own regard.
Barkley, like the rest of the fanbase, will have to wait at least another year to see Auburn’s first national title, and maybe much longer, but he was happy for a second run to the Final Four from the top seed in the entire field.