College Career
He was a heavily recruited high school athlete. His recruiting trip with the Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team touched off a major scandal after he was a passenger in a rollover accident. Cleaves eventually agreed to attend Michigan State University, the University of Michigan's in-state rival.
Cleaves, a three-time Michigan State University captain, led the Spartans to the 2000 national championship, and was named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.
The school's only three-time All-American, Cleaves was named Big Ten Player of the Year twice. He led MSU and the conference in career assists with 816, and is Michigan State's all-time steals leader (193). In his final home game on senior night in East Lansing, Cleaves dished out 20 assists, breaking the Big Ten single-game and career assist marks.
On February 3, 2007, Cleaves became the eighth MSU player to have his number retired.
Read more about this topic: Mateen Cleaves
Famous quotes containing the words college and/or career:
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