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Matthew Cleveland left Florida State in 2023 because of Jim Larrañaga. The longtime Miami head coach had a reputation for developing transfers, and Cleveland was looking for a boost. Despite an up-and-down year for the Hurricanes last season, Cleveland made his mark by averaging 13.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, and a career-best 48.9% shooting clip.

The 6-foot-7 guard was inherently set for a larger role entering 2024-25. Though on Dec. 26, 2024, in the middle of Miami’s season, Larrañaga announced his retirement, citing exhaustion from college athletics’ modern era of Name, Image and Likeness.

In response, Hurricanes’ interim head coach Bill Courtney challenged Cleveland, a senior, to set an example for the younger guys. Since Larrañaga’s retirement, Miami has won just one game and sits last in the Atlantic Coast Conference. However, Cleveland is amid his best collegiate season, averaging a team-high 16.1 points on 52.6% shooting as the Hurricanes’ most experienced player. He’s also scored 15 points or more in 12 of his last 13 games.

Cleveland leads Miami (5-18, 1-11 ACC) into a matchup against Syracuse (11-13, 5-8 ACC) Tuesday as both programs look to sneak into the ACC Tournament.

“Obviously winning is the most important thing at this level and it hurts not to win game by game,” Cleveland said of Miami’s 2024-25 season. “But as long as you’re getting better and you are putting the effort to win, then eventually those wins will start to come.”

Though his team is struggling, Cleveland is back to being the top dog for the first time since high school. After averaging 21 points per game at Cambridge High School (Georgia) in his sophomore year, he and his father, Ralph, looked for a better program to receive recruitment at.

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They eventually chose Pace Academy (Georgia) — led by coach Sharman White, who previously coached Cleveland on the 2019 USA Men’s Basketball Junior National July Minicamp team.

White described Cleveland as an “alpha” for Pace, citing his winning attitude and athleticism, as he won two state championships to begin his time there.

“He went right into it and he embraced it. He got to know the guys early on and once he figured it out, he learned the guys and learned how he could be most effective for us,” White said.

Cleveland established himself as a five-star prospect in the class of 2021, per 247Sports, ranking as the No. 27 player nationally and the third-best Georgia-based recruit. He garnered high-profile interest from programs like Alabama and Auburn, but settled on Florida State.

When Cleveland arrived at FSU, head coach Leonard Hamilton never guaranteed anyone playing time. Minutes were based on adherence to FSU’s high-demand defensive playing style. Yet, former Seminoles assistant coach Steve Smith said Cleveland easily transitioned into the program’s system, adjusting from his high-scoring role in high school.

“A lot of that (FSU playstyle) was who he was. He was a long, athletic kid. He’s one of the best athletes on the team at that time,” Smith said. “He just had to learn some of the defensive principles we taught down there.”

The Seminoles employed a full-court press, in which Cleveland excelled. In his first season, he averaged 11.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per game but only started eight games since Hamilton tended to use his best players as the sixth man.

Cleveland became the fourth consecutive FSU player to win ACC Sixth Man of the Year after Mfiondu Kabengele (2018-19), Patrick Williams (2019-20) and Scottie Barnes (2020-21) won it previously. Williams and Barnes each became lottery picks in the NBA Draft.

“As coaches, you always want the buy-in. Guys that trust you and believe in you and buy into the system and the program,” Smith said. “So, him winning the sixth man award, that’s when we told him congratulations, (we) appreciate you believing in us and trusting us.”

But after a 9-23 season for the Seminoles in 2022-23, Cleveland entered the transfer portal. His play improved from his freshman to sophomore years — averaging career-highs with 13.8 points and 7.4 boards per game — but he wanted to win.

Cleveland pointed to Larrañaga’s history with transfers for why Miami stood out to him; DePaul transfer Charlie Moore propelled the Hurricanes to the Elite Eight in 2022, averaging 12.4 points per game, and Kansas State transfer point guard Nijel Pack boosted Larrañaga’s team to a 2022-23 ACC regular-season title and Final Four appearance. Cleveland said he envisioned a similar path for himself.

“I just thought Miami was the best fit for me just because it was a winning culture,” Cleveland said.

While Cleveland didn’t imagine Miami’s changing of the guard, he’s managed to regain his five-star form as a senior this season. He felt his first year with the Hurricanes was “inconsistent.” Through 23 games in 2024-25, he’s setting career-highs in virtually every scoring and shooting statistic.

Cleveland’s been Miami’s most heavily relied on player considering an injury Pack suffered, which has sidelined him for 14 games thus far. The Hurricanes are in need of a stellar showing from Cleveland to match SU’s guard play, led by J.J. Starling. But it’s clear Cleveland has developed the tools to do so on Tuesday.

Published on February 10, 2025 at 11:04 pm

Contact Quinn: qdpostma@syr.edu