By ISU Sports Information
NORMAL – Illinois State head men’s basketball coach Dan Muiller has announced the signing of D.J. Clayton, a 6-foot-6, 185-pound transfer guard from Palm Beach State College, who began his collegiate career at Western Kentucky.
A native of Castro Valley, California, Clayton has two years of eligibility remaining and will begin his career at Illinois State as a junior in 2016-17 after leading Palm Beach State College in scoring as a sophomore during the 2015-16 campaign.
“DJ is the perfect student-athlete for us to round out our 2016 recruiting class,” Muller said. “He brings Division I experience and an understanding of what it takes to win at this level. DJ is a terrific athlete who is dangerous in transition and can play multiple positions in the half court. His size, skillset and experience are exactly what our team needed heading into what we believe will be a very exciting 2016-17 season. We are very excited about the addition of DJ to our program.”
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. He 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. For his efforts, Clayton 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. As a freshman in 2014-15, Clayton played in 29 games with two starts. He averaged 4.1 points and 2.4 rebounds in 16.1 minutes per game for the Hilltoppers. Clayton scored a season-high 15 points versus Marshall (Jan. 4, 2015). He reached double-digit scoring in four games, including a 14-point performance versus then-No. 4 Louisville (Dec. 20, 2014).
Clayton 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.
