Phoenix Suns hire Michigan State legend Mateen Cleaves as player development coach
The Phoenix Suns have hired former Michigan State national champion basketball player Mateen Cleaves as a player development coach, according to John Gambadoro, a radio host for 98.7 FM in Phoenix. It marks Cleaves’ first NBA experience since his retirement from the league in 2006.
Cleaves and Suns owner Mat Ishbia first met as members of Tom Izzo’s Spartan teams in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Ishbia served as a walk-on point guard for Michigan State’s 2000 national championship team, while Cleaves won the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player award that year.
In 2015, Ishbia became the president and CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), a mortgage lender founded by his father, Jeff, in 1986. Ishbia earned billionaire status in 2021 and purchased the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury basketball franchises in 2023.
Cleaves has worked as a leadership coach for Ishbia and UWM since 2019. Cleaves’ role with the Suns will be similar to his position at UWM, in that he will focus on “leadership, motivation and overall player development,” according to Gambadoro.
On a recent episode of his podcast, The Timeout, former NBA star Dwyane Wade spoke about Cleaves’ leadership abilities, which he demonstrated at Michigan State before becoming a motivational speaker and leadership coach at UWM.
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“Mateen is somebody you want in your locker room,” Wade said. “He’s a winner. You want a winner and you want somebody who can get in somebody’s face and tell them like it is, not somebody who has to whisper behind their back.”
Cleaves and Ishbia have both remained close to Michigan State. Ishbia is one of the university’s primary donors and Cleaves has attended countless games and events at his alma mater in recent years. Cleaves’ son, Mateen Cleaves Jr., is a top 2028 basketball prospect at Orchard Lake (Mich.) St. Mary’s High School.
In May, Ishbia named former Michigan State assistant coach Brian Gregory as general manager of the Suns. Just over one month later, Phoenix hired former Spartan graduate assistant and video coordinator Jordan Ott as head coach.
