Mateen Cleaves Jr., a 6-4 sophomore, transferred to Dream City Christian School in Scottsdale, Arizona after freshman year at Orchard Lake St. Mary's.
Tom Izzo built his Michigan State basketball program into a national champion and eventual powerhouse with the help of Mateen Cleaves.
Nearly 30 years later, Izzo reportedly offered Mateen Cleaves Jr. a scholarship to follow in his father’s footsteps.
Cleaves Sr. posted on his Instagram feed Tuesday, Aug. 12, that Izzo extended an offer to join the Spartans in their 2028 class. That would be Izzo’s 38th year as MSU’s coach.
“You got a long way to go,” Cleaves Sr. wrote, “but you should feel good because you have been working your ass off!!!”
The younger Cleaves, a 6-foot-4 guard who played at Orchard Lake St. Mary's, is transferring this fall to Dream City Christian School in Scottsdale, Arizona. Cleaves Sr. was hired by the NBA’s Phoenix Suns to be their player development coach. The Suns are owned by his former MSU teammate, Mat Ishbia, who also employed Cleaves Sr. as a leadership coach with his United Wholesale Mortgage company in Pontiac since 2019.
Cleaves Jr. also reportedly has another Big Ten offer from Rutgers. He averaged 5.1 points per game as a freshman heading into the Division 1 state semifinals, serving as OLSM’s sixth man and playing primarily playing off the ball. Cleaves went scoreless in 9 minutes in a state semifinal loss at Breslin Center to East Lansing, which featured the sons of former Izzo players Andre Hutson, David Thomas and Kelvin Torbert and eventually won the championship.
Cleaves Sr. was a major recruiting grab for Izzo after he took over the program from Jud Heathcote before the 1995-96 season. The Flint native emerged as the starting point guard and All-American on MSU’s 2000 national title team, and Ishbia was a walk-on guard. The Spartans went to three straight Final Fours (1999, 2000, 2001) and won four consecutive Big Ten titles in that era. Izzo continually has expressed his love and adoration for Cleaves and named his son Steven Mateen Izzo, who also became an MSU walk-on.
The Pistons drafted Cleaves Sr. in the first round of the 2000 draft with the No. 14 pick, and he played six seasons in the NBA.
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Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him @chrissolari.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Mateen Cleaves Jr. recruiting: Michigan State offers scholarship
Category: General Sports
