Four-star shooting guard picks Florida State

By Matt Tait     Jul 21, 2020

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Kansas University basketball recruiting

Four-star shooting guard Matthew Cleveland, of Pace Academy in Atlanta, announced on Twitter on Tuesday that he was headed to Florida State.

Kansas had been one of the final five schools — along with FSU, Michigan, Stanford and North Carolina State — vying for Cleveland’s services, but the Seminoles won out.

As is typical of these announcement videos, Cleveland thanked his coaches, family, friends and trainers, along with everyone who recruited him, before walking into an empty gym to unveil the Florida State gear underneath his sweatshirt.

As he walked into the picture, his parents flanked him, wearing FSU shirts of their own.

Ranked No. 25 in the 2021 class by Rivals.com, Cleveland is a 6-foot-6, 190-pound shooting guard who figures to bring good size and versatility to the Seminoles’ backcourt for the 2021-22 season.

Meanwhile, KU remains at one commitment in the 2021 class, with four-star forward Zach Clemence (No. 29 in the 2021 Rivals rankings) having committed to Kansas back in May.

The Jayhawks remain in the hunt for several four- and five-star prospects in the 2021 class, including Top 15 point guards JD Davison and Hunter Sallis.

KU is also pursuing three-star prospect Jordan Riley, a 6-3, 195-pound combo guard from Brentwood, N.Y., who is expected to make his college announcement on Friday morning.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.