NCAA Basketball: Analyzing top 3 teams for Florida State transfer Matthew Cleveland

The NCAA Basketball transfer portal is starting to trickle out, with many quality players making commitments in the past week. Yet there are still some available, including Matthew Cleveland of Florida State. He’s a former five-star prospect in the 2021 recruiting class and was an NBA Draft prospect, thanks to his 6’7 frame and notable scoring skills.

As a freshman, Cleveland came off the bench for the Seminoles, averaging 11.5 ppg and 4.6 rpg. He was named ACC 6th Man of the Year and a consensus breakout candidate for the next year. This past season as a full-time starter, his production increased to 13.8 ppg and 7.4 rpg, both of which led the team.

Cleveland ultimately played out of position this past season due to the team dealing with injuries in the frontcourt. And while Florida State only won nine games overall and Cleveland didn’t have a big year stock-wise, he still was an impact power conference starter.

After the season, the wing entered the transfer portal and immediately got plenty of interest since there aren’t many quality small forwards available. One team that was in the mix early on was Michigan, which had originally recruited him out of high school. But it looks as if the Wolverines aren’t going to be involved much longer.

These three programs all could use a starting forward and the winner of this sweepstakes would have a compelling roster for the 2023-24 season. Here’s a closer look at how Cleveland would fit with each of the three finalists.