THS’ Clayton ready for overseas tourney

Local Sports

March 5, 2010

Clint Thompson The Times Enterprise Fri Mar 05, 2010, 10:39 PM EST

THOMASVILLE — A key component in Thomasville’s scintillating season is once again ready to sizzle overseas.

Sophomore Willie Clayton, last year’s Times-Enterprise player of the year, will travel with a U.S. National team in April to Argentina to compete in a 17-and-under tournament.

“I’m playing with high schoolers this year, and it should be fun,” Clayton said.

A year ago, Clayton competed against college and professional players from all over the world. He played in the Tourcoing World Championships in Turcoing, France. He was one of only two high schoolers on the team as it played eight games in an eight-day stretch over Clayton’s spring break. It was a valuable experience that’s aiding Clayton during this year’s Class AA playoff run.

“I took back a lot,” said Clayton, whose team will play Henry County today at 8:30 p.m. at Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus in the second round of the playoffs. “They teach me mental stuff like how to stay focused when a game is tight. There were a lot of tight games we played overseas.”

Thomasville coach Ben Tillman added, “I think it helped him out a lot. I think he is really starting to learn the game of basketball.”

Clayton is the Bulldogs’ leading scorer at 17 points per game. That followed a breakout freshman season in which averaged 17 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.

“Willie has proven to be the top sophomore in the country, based on his performances against other players in the United States,” said Lindsay Davis, Clayton's international coach. “As an eighth grader, he went toe-to-toe with Demarcus Cousins (now a freshman at Kentucky). He even dunked on Demarcus Cousins in a summer league game. Playing nationally, he actually outplayed every high school player playing nationally during the year as well. He's been a standout player in Georgia also.

"His game, because he plays so hard, his game really fits perfect when playing against teams overseas. The top players overseas, there's a lot of kids, they won't be able to compete if they don't play at a high level. Willie really plays a very, very high level. He's a high-energy player. I would say, and I've coached Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Tywan Lawson...I would say Willie is, bar none, the best athlete that I've coached. I've never seen a player work as hard as he works."

Davis said he has worked with Clayton mostly on his ball handling and perimeter shooting. As Davis sees it, Clayton doesn't need much assistance with other parts of his game.

"At the rim, there's no better player in the country, period. I don't care what grade they're in," Davis said. "I watched Georgia and Kentucky (Wednesday night) and Georgia could have used Willie (Wednesday night). He would have done a better job than what Georgia had on the floor right now."

Teamed with fellow sophomore post player Robert Carter, Clayton has given the Bulldogs a formidable duo for the next two years. According to Tillman, the sky's the limit with Clayton's basketball potential.

"I think if Willie continues to work hard and continues to move in that direction and continues to listen and stay humble and grounded, he can be any kind of ballplayer he wants to be," Tillman added. "He'll have to continue to work hard and continue to stay positive and understand that there's always room to grow."

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