Mateen Ahmad Cleaves (born September 7, 1977) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He played parts of six seasons in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). He was an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

college player for

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

, where he led the Spartans to a national championship in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

. He has also worked as a studio analyst for Fox Sports.

College career

Cleaves was a heavily recruited high school athlete. The

Michigan Wolverines men's basketball The Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team is the College basketball, intercollegiate men's basketball program representing the University of Michigan. The school competes in the Big Ten Conference in NCAA Division I, Division I of the Nationa ...

program took Cleaves on a recruiting trip 40 miles from Ann Arbor's campus which ignited the start of the major scandal. Cleaves and current players were passengers in a rollover accident leaving a party in Detroit with strippers, alcohol, and drugs that also included a stop at the home of Eddie L. "Ed" Martin. Martin's involvement in the party while being a Michigan booster and the distance from campus triggered an NCAA investigation leading to major sanctions against the Wolverines' basketball program. Cleaves eventually agreed to attend Michigan State University, the University of Michigan's in-state

rival A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

. He is one of the four MSU players from

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city in Genesee County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Flint River (Michigan), Flint River northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the Central Michigan, Mid Michigan region. Flin ...

, dubbed "The Flintstones". Cleaves, a three-time Michigan State 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

, Cleaves was named

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

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 East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County, although a small portion extends north into Clinton County, Michigan, Clinton County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

, 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.

Professional career

In 2000, Cleaves was selected 14th overall in the 2000 NBA draft by the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

. During the 2000–01 season, he played in 78 games, averaging 5.4 points and 2.7 assists. Cleaves was traded to the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

shortly before the 2001–02 season for

Jon Barry Jon Alan Barry (born July 25, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player and television analyst for American Broadcasting Company, ABC and ESPN. Barry is currently the lead analyst for NBA_on_ESPN_Radio, ESPN Radio's coverage of ...

and a first-round draft pick. After two seasons playing sparingly, he signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

with the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

, but was waived before the 2003–04 season. He played with the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

in four games. He was then signed by the Seattle SuperSonics, was cut during the 2004–05 season, and re-signed during the following season. In total, Cleaves played 167 NBA games, starting in 10 of them and had career averages of 3.6 points, 2 assists and 1 rebound a game. His final NBA game was played on February 14, 2006, in a 91 - 106 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. In that game Cleaves recorded 2 points and 3 assists. Following his NBA stint, Cleaves appeared for the Fayetteville Patriots and the Bakersfield Jam of the D-League, also playing abroad with Russia's Unics Kazan and Greece's Panionios BC. In 2008, he played with the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

in their pre-season, but was waived before the October 29 tip-off.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

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Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

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Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

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Post-playing career

On March 14, 2010, it was announced that Cleaves had joined

Fox Sports Detroit FanDuel Sports Network Detroit is an American regional sports network owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) and operated as an affiliate of FanDuel Sports Network. It provides coverage of local sports teams in the sta ...

as a

studio analyst. In addition Cleaves has branched out into music as an owner of the record label All Varsity Entertainment, featuring Jon Connor. Cleaves joined United Wholesale Mortgage and former teammate Mat Ishbia in 2019 as a leadership development coach. In 2021 he was promoted to leader of the leadership development team and is famous in the company for his "Mateen's Motivational Tuesday" posts.

Criminal case

In 1998, while at Michigan State, Cleaves ran afoul of the law twice, both cases involving alcohol. One night, Cleaves took a beer from a

7-Eleven 7-Eleven, Inc. is an American convenience store chain, headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seven-Eleven Japan, which in turn is owned by the retail holdings company Seven & I Holdings. The chain was founde ...

while the clerk was in the bathroom, leaving money on the counter. Cleaves was underage at the time and the incident occurred after legal alcohol selling hours. He was benched for half a game, fined, and ordered to perform community service. Later that year, Cleaves and fellow player

Andre Hutson Andre Davon Hutson (born January 12, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. Born in Dayton, Ohio, the tall Hutson, played as a power forward and Center (basketball), center, during his professional career. High school Hutson ...

were arrested after being caught driving a car while drinking. Hutson, the driver, had a 0.02 BAC, under legal intoxication levels, but Hutson was underage and charged under Michigan's "zero tolerance" policy regarding alcohol and minors. Cleaves was charged with being a minor in possession of alcohol, refusing a breath test, and not wearing his seat belt. In October 2015, Cleaves was investigated for his role in an alleged

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...

. Cleaves was accused of taking a 24-year-old woman to a motel in Mundy Township, on September 15, 2015, keeping her against her will and sexually assaulting her. He was released on a $150,000 personal bond. The case was handled by Wayne County because Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton had a conflict of interest. On December 5, 2016, after reviewing surveillance video and the alleged victim's testimony, all charges against Cleaves were dismissed by District Court Judge M. Cathy Dowd. Prosecutors promptly appealed. On April 10, 2017, Genesee Circuit Court Judge Archie L. Hayman ruled that District Court Judge M. Cathy Dowd abused her discretion in finding no probable cause that Cleaves committed a crime, remanding the case to district court and ordering it bound over for a jury trial. On May 16, 2017, Cleaves' attorneys appealed the decision to the

Michigan Court of Appeals The Michigan Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court of the state of Michigan. It was created by the Michigan Constitution of 1963, and commenced operations in 1965. Its opinions are reporter (law), reported both in an officia ...

, arguing that Judge Hayman "ignored the evidence of the case." On August 1, 2017, it was announced three Michigan Court of Appeals judges denied Cleaves' request to review a judge's decision to reinstate sexual assault charges against him. On January 4, 2018, it was announced that the

Michigan Supreme Court The Michigan Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is Michigan's court of last resort and consists of seven justices. The Court is located in the Michigan Hall of Justice at 925 Ottawa Street in Lansing, the s ...

declined to review a judge's decision to reinstate sexual assault charges against Cleaves. In August 2019, the case returned to county court for trial, and on August 20, 2019, Cleaves was

acquitted In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal means that the criminal prosecution has failed to prove that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the charge presented. It certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an o ...

of all charges. A video published on the Internet shows the woman attempting to resist him as he pulls her back to the hotel room. Cleaves attorney Frank J. Manley released a statement saying that Cleaves was doing the right thing by pulling a naked woman back into the hotel room and allowed her to leave when fully dressed. Manley also stated that Cleaves' case was dismissed previously by a female judge who heard all the evidence and he was acquitted by a jury which included nine female jurors out of 12.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleaves, Mateen 1977 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Russia American men's basketball players Bakersfield Jam players Basketball players from Flint, Michigan BC UNICS players Cleveland Cavaliers players Detroit Pistons draft picks Detroit Pistons players Fayetteville Patriots players Huntsville Flight players McDonald's High School All-Americans Michigan State Spartans men's basketball players Panionios B.C. players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Point guards Sacramento Kings players Seattle SuperSonics players