Michigan State Basketball: Tom Izzo’s top recruiting victories
Mateen Cleaves might be the most celebrated player in the Tom Izzo era. One of the first real big fish that the Hall of Fame head coach has caught, Mateen had his No. 12 jersey retired by Michigan State in 2007 thanks to his fantastic career in the green and white.
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Cleaves wasn’t just a great passing point guard; he could pass, play defense and he was one of the best leaders in Michigan State history. Usually when a point guard comes in, they’re graded on the Mateen scale. Will they be as good of a leader as Mateen was? So far, no one has matched his leadership — although Kalin Lucas was close.
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It was an in-state battle for Cleaves’ services as he decided to pick the Spartans over the Wolverines which happened to be the first of many recruiting wins for Izzo. He bought into the process under the second-year head coach and never looked back. Michigan State went on to win its first national title since 1979 with Cleaves at the helm as a three-year captain.
During his time in a Michigan State uniform, he went to two Final Fours, won a national championship, was an All-American and averaged 12.5 points and 6.6 assists over his career. He was drafted No. 14 overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 2000 NBA Draft but never lived up to the hype.