NCAA Basketball: Analyzing 2021 wing Matthew Cleveland’s final 5 schools
By Ian Mumm
Kansas Jayhawks
The Jayhawk faithful are no strangers to elite talent signing with their favorite team. Kansas has signed 22 5-star prospects in their history and they could be on the verge of adding more in the near future. Bill Self is one of the best coaches in the game and can offer recruits a lot of advice to improve their game before attempting to navigate the professional ranks, in addition to a lot of national exposure.
Despite losing key talent from the 2019 team, Kansas will still boast plenty of it in 2020 and in 2021 when Cleveland looks to step on campus. Adding a player of Cleveland’s caliber will simply be stocking the cupboards with talent for Coach Self. However, make no mistake about it there are ways in which Cleveland can help upgrade this team despite the Jayhawks already being incredibly efficient.
Cleveland’s size and physicality on the perimeter make for a double-edged sword for Kansas. He has the shooting consistency and range to improve the team’s 3-point frequency without compromising their conversion rate, but he also will happily take the opportunity to attack the rim and convert tougher plays when the defense denies those shots.
Defensively, Cleveland’s length will help to improve the frequency opposing offenses attempted 3-pointers against Kansas last season. Falling in the nation’s bottom quartile in this area, he has shown to be a strong closer on contesting shots and will help to force shooters into the defensive interior and towards shot blockers.
His talents as a two-way player are going to be incredibly valuable and dangerous for Self, especially if 5-star wing Kendall Brown decides to join the party as well. The duo would be extremely potent scoring the ball and would open a lot of areas on the floor for players to beat their man 1-on-1.