Report: Florida State transfer forward Matthew Cleveland choosing between Auburn, Missouri, Miami

AndrewEdGraham

Former Florida State forward Matthew Cleveland is one of the most sought after transfers in all of men’s college hoops. And according to On3’s Joe Tipton, Cleveland has narrowed his potential destinations down to three finalists.

The schools that Cleveland is choosing from: Auburn, Miami and Missouri. Rothstein gave no indication of any timeline for a decision from Cleveland.

According to the On3 transfer portal rankings, Cleveland is one of the top players available. For those who have not committed, the former Florida State star sits at No. 12 overall. There is a reason nearly 20 schools have reached out since officially entering on Tuesday.

Cleveland has been one of the most sought-after players in the transfer portal since entering.

When speaking to On3’s Joe Tipton, Cleveland mentioned he has heard from 17 different schools thus far. Programs from the ACC and SEC mostly make up the list as they are most familiar with the Alpharetta, GA native.

Now just three of those schools have made the cut for the 6-foot-6 wing.

In 2022-23 as a sophomore, Cleveland was consistently the best player on the court for a 9-23 Seminoles squad. He played in 30 games, starting all of them, and averaged a team-high 13.8 points per game and was second on the team with 7.4 rebounds per game.

Cleveland played high school basketball at Alpharetta (GA) Pace Academy, where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 25 overall recruit in the 2021 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Rankings, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

During his original high school recruitment, Cleveland announced a top five before committing to Florida State. Kansas, Michigan, NC State, and Stanford were all considered by the forward. Of that group of schools, two have reached out again in the portal — the Wolfpack and Wolverines.

Transfer portal background information

The NCAA Transfer Portal, which covers every NCAA sport at the Division I, II and III levels, is a private database with names of student-athletes who wish to transfer. It is not accessible to the public.

The process of entering the portal is done through a school’s compliance office. Once a player provides written notification of an intent to transfer, the office enters the player’s name in the database and everything is off and running. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and that request cannot be refused.

Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship no longer has to be honored. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.