Matthew Cleveland should continue Miami’s success in the transfer portal

Many remember the nightmare finish to the Miami-Florida State game last season when junior forward Matthew Cleveland hit a buzzer-beating shot to beat the Hurricanes at the Watso Center.

Fortunately for Canes fans, Cleveland switched from the garnett and gold to the orange and green.

Cleveland transferred to the Miami Hurricanes in the offseason, and Miami’s recent success with transfers went into his decision. Also, on his visit to Miami’s campus last spring, he shared that the comfort that his dad had with the staff was one of the main reasons he decided on the Hurricanes.

“What made me decide to come here was just the comfortability that I have with the coaching staff and the success that I seen they had with transfers,” Cleveland said in a zoom press conference Tuesday. “Like Norchad [Omier], Nijel [Pack], and even way before that in my freshman with Charlie [Moore] and Kam [McGusty] and Jordan [Miller]. So that was really the main reason. The winning that this program has had over the past couple years also.

Miami is basking in the glory of recent success. The Hurricanes made it to its first-ever Elite Eight and Final Four in back-to-back years, and the standards are raised for the program.

“When we first came into the league, our goals were still the same as they are today, and that is to win the ACC regular season, to win the tournament, to make the NCAA [Tournament], and advance as far as we can,” Head Coach Jim Larranaga said. “I think we recruit players who fit our culture, who really enjoy playing with each other and playing for the coaching staff, and they all love Miami, they stay all summer when they have the option of leaving. And when you have a group that gets along well on the court and off the court, you have a chance to be successful, and hopefully, we can keep it rolling.”

Cleveland is already gelling with his teammates as he joined the team on its foreign tour to France. Miami won its two games against Parisian Select and concluded the tour with a win over AC Golfe Juan-Vallauris. In its last game, Cleveland scored 21 points and 11 rebounds, including five boards at the offensive end. The Atlanta native went 7-of-12 from the floor and 3-of-5 on long-range attempts. He averaged 16 points and 7.6 rebounds in the three games.

“We continue to keep our eyes and ears open for any transfers, that we think fits our culture, and Matt Cleveland certainly does,” Larranaga said.

Cleveland has quickly bought into the winning culture at Miami, something he has yet to experience in his college career. He experienced 17-14 and 9-23 seasons during his time in Tallahassee. He shared what his personal goal is going into his third season.

“I main one is winning. My two years of college so far, my freshman year was shaky, and last year was really bad. So my personal goals is to win. Do whatever I can to win.”