Let me preface this by saying that I’ve been up for nearly 24 hours just trying to keep up with Michigan State hockey news so my conspiracy theory about Michigan State’s next head coach when Tom Izzo eventually retires may be just a crazy man rambling.
But hear me out.
We all know that Izzo isn’t really contemplating retirement any time in the near future and while he is going to be hanging it up within the next maybe 4-5 years, he’s probably going to try and hand-pick his own replacement. Legendary Hall of Fame head coaches have the right to do that if they earn enough respect from their school. Izzo is a legend at Michigan State and he was appointed by Jud Heathcote to be his replacement so he knows firsthand that it can work out.
So since he’ll have a few more years to really think about it, I think Mat Ishbia’s hiring of former Michigan State grad assistant and video coordinator Jordan Ott who then brought in Mateen Cleaves to be the Phoenix Suns’ player development coach was a strategic move.
I know Izzo is very aware of the magnitude of the next coaching hire which is why he’ll want it to be one that’s universally agreed upon and one that all fans get behind.
Revealing the mystery theoretical Michigan State coaching candidate
Since I don’t feel like building the suspense, it’s Mateen.
I know it sounds crazy, but stay with me.
Mateen was hired in 2025 to be an assistant coach in Ott’s staff and he’ll likely stick around for a few years to really get acclimated in the coaching world. He might get a promotion in the process, but he’s going to have a few years of ”NBA coaching experience” before his son, Mateen Cleaves Jr., gets to college in the 2028 class. Michigan State is probably the favorite to land him, so what better of a storyline than Mateen Sr. coming home to East Lansing to be an assistant coach under Izzo with Mateen Jr. on the team. Imagine that trio chasing one final national title together.
Total full circle moment.
Mateen Sr. may be in East Lansing for 1-2 years before Izzo decides it’s time to hang it up and he is tasked with finding a replacement. Since Dwayne Stephens is likely out of the question after he struggled at Western Michigan and I can’t really see any of his current assistants taking over — they’re more likely to take another job first — it would make sense that Mateen is the guy.
Izzo handing the keys to the program to the star player who helped win him his first national title and who he named his son (his middle name) after would be better than a Hollywood script.
And at that point, Izzo can hit us with “he has both NBA and college coaching experience” line and not many Spartan fans would argue the move considering Mateen is a living MSU legend.
There’s a chance that Mateen Cleaves won’t be received well
While most Spartan fans would cheer on a move like this, there would be a faction of the fanbase that brings up his long legal battle with following a sexual assault allegation in which he was eventually acquitted. I’m not going to get into that because this isn’t the place for that conversation, but I do believe that Izzo is going to try and clean up that image.
Izzo’s already had him around the program plenty of times and he comes to Grind Week every year. The team is no stranger to Cleaves and he speaks to Izzo and the Spartans regularly.
The more Cleaves comes around, the more fans will warm up to the idea of having him lead the program. He’s 48 right now so if this takes about 4-5 years, he’ll be 52 which could give him a good 10-15 years as Michigan State’s head coach, assuming he continues Izzo’s success.
So how did we all like my conspiracy theory? I’m only 90 percent convinced that it’s going to happen.
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