NORMAL, Ill. – Meet 6-foot-6, 185-pound junior guard DJ Clayton in this week's installment of Signed On: ISU Basketball Newcomers.
During his sophomore season at Palm Beach State College, Clayton averaged a team-best 13.2 points per game while shooting 141-for-341 (41.3 percent) from the field, 55-for-171 (32.2 percent) from beyond the arc and 73-for-119 (61.3 percent) at the free throw line. Clayton played in 31 games with 25 starts as a sophomore and reached double-figure scoring 22 times – including a career-high 30-point effort versus Broward College Feb. 16 – and averaged 3.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game.
Clayton helped the Panthers finish the 2015-16 season with a 24-8 record after advancing to the NJCAA Region 8 Championship semifinals, and he earned spots on the All-Southern Conference First Team and the Region 8 All-Tournament Team.
Before transferring to Palm Beach State College, Clayton began his collegiate basketball career at Western Kentucky where, as a freshman in 2014-15, he played in 29 games with two starts. Clayton averaged 4.1 points and 2.4 rebounds in 16.1 minutes per game for the Hilltoppers. Clayton reached double-digit scoring in four games, including a 14-point performance versus then-No. 4 Louisville (Dec. 20, 2014).
He finished his high school career at Elev8 Sports Academy in Orlando, Florida, after originally playing at Castro Valley High School in his hometown of Castro Valley, California, which is approximately 15 miles southeast of Oakland. As a senior at Elev8 in 2013-14, Clayton averaged 18 points per game and helped his team to a 20-12 overall record.
Clayton and the Redbirds are set to tip off the 2016-17 season Friday at 7 p.m. CT at Murray State, live on the Ohio Valley Conference Digital Network.
ISU will then open its home season Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. CT versus Fort Wayne on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena. Tickets are available by visiting or calling the Illinois State Athletics Ticket Office at (309) 438-8000, or by navigating to GoRedbirds.com/Tickets.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
