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BB RECRUITING

Mateen Cleaves joins other Spartan legends whose sons are making headlines

Mateen Cleaves Jr. could soon be a Tom Izzo target.

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Mateen Cleaves
© Nick King/Lansing State Journal, Lansing State Journal via Imagn Content Services, LLC

After Saturday’s Flint City Pro-Am, Tom Izzo may be adding another legend’s son to his recruiting list in Mateen Cleaves Jr.

We’ve seen a number of legacy players begin to rise through high school rankings in recent years. Bronny James just went through the recruiting process, and Kiyan Anthony, son of Carmelo Anthony is currently doing the same.

Michigan State has been reaching out to legacies as well. Jase Richardson is a major target for Tom Izzo, son of Michigan State legend Jason Richardson.

After Saturday’s Flint City Pro-Am, Izzo may be adding another legend’s son to his recruiting list. 

Mateen Cleaves Jr. shows out on Saturday at Flint City Pro-Am

Over the weekend, Mateen Cleaves Jr. channeled his father during the Flint City Pro-Am. The youngest son of Mateen Cleaves, and obviously his namesake, played with Team McGee against Overseas Elite on Saturday, finishing with 16 points.

Scoring 10 of his 16 in the second half, Cleaves seemed to knock down mid range jumper after mid range jumper. Adding some 3-pointers in transition, Cleaves Jr.’s Team McGee would go on to win by 20, 84-64. It should be noted that the youngest Cleaves son is still only 12 years old. Playing on Team McGee, Cleaves Jr. is one of the youngest on the court.

The tournament is hosted by NBA Champion and fellow Flint native, JaVale McGee. Meant to be ‘a community event with local talent from the NBA, overseas and college guys’ according to the tournament organizer Rory Jones. The league is NCAA certified, meaning that amateurs and professionals can partake. Getting reps against higher competition such as this is a great start for Cleaves Jr. 

It seems as though Cleaves and Cleaves Jr. are up for the attention and challenge.

After the game, Cleaves Sr. said “I named him after me. We ain’t ducking anything.”

Will the 12-year-old continue to develop and will Tom Izzo make it a point to visit his old Flintstone captain to recruit his son? Only time will tell.

BB RECRUITING

Michigan State basketball facing huge recruiting weekend

This could be a massive weekend for Tom Izzo.

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Michigan State basketball
© Audrey Richardson / USA TODAY NETWORK

Michigan State basketball fans will have their eyes on East Lansing this weekend as it’s huge for recruiting.

Tom Izzo has been hard at work all offseason and while Michigan State basketball fans still have to wait a couple of months for the start of the season, he’s bringing some excitement into this weekend.

According to Travis Branham, Izzo will be hosting five-star Trey McKenney this weekend on an unofficial visit.

McKenney is one of the best players in the country, regardless of class, and he’s on the top of the list of 2025 priorities for Izzo. Add him to an already-elite visitors list with four-star big man commit Jesse McCulloch, four-star combo guard Jase Richardson, and four-star small forward Jordan Scott and you have a huge weekend. Izzo is going to be making some serious moves.

On top of the fact that these guys will all be on campus for the Richmond game (hopefully the home crowd brings it for an FCS foe), it looks like some former Michigan State basketball players are on campus as well.

Big names like Xavier Tillman and Gary Harris who have seen NBA success are back this weekend and it’ll be interesting to see how they’re used as recruiting tools. Did Izzo have them return to help with guys like McKenney, Scott, and Richardson? It would make sense.

With Jase Richardson taking his official, that probably also means his Spartan legend father, Jason Richardson, will also be in East Lansing.

Talk about recruiting tools left and right. If you’re a recruit and you see a few NBA players who played under Izzo rolling up to tell you why Michigan State is the right fit, you probably listen.

We’ll see if Izzo can make some moves with McKenney, who will be tough to land, as well as Richardson and Scott.

Huge weekend for the Hall of Fame coach.

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BB RECRUITING

Michigan State Basketball: 4-star CG Jase Richardson sets date for official visit

Jason Richardson’s four-star son will be on campus soon.

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Michigan State basketball
© Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Jase Richardson, the four-star son of Michigan State basketball legend Jason Richardson, has planned his official visit to East Lansing.

For those Michigan State basketball fans who have been watching hoops for a long time, the last name “Richardson” should be one that is very familiar. For those who remember a time when Jason Richardson was playing, you remember how fun it was to watch him. There’s a chance that you could be seeing another fun player with the last name Richardson wearing the green and white in the near future.

Who could that be? None other than 2024 four-star combo guard Jase Richardson.

The four-star son of Jason Richardson will be taking an official visit to Michigan State on the weekend of Sept. 9, according to Travis Branham.

With the 2024 class already having two commits and looking to add another, Richardson should be one of the recruits who fans should keep an eye on. A lot of that has to do with him being a top-50 recruit but also his relationship with Michigan State. Being the son of Jason Richardson, Jase grew up around the Spartan program.

While some recruits who grow up with a parent who played for one school may want to go in their own direction, it’s always important to have that relationship, and Tom Izzo and the Richardson family have a good relationship. While they have that relationship, it must be interesting for Izzo to be recruiting the son of someone he coached this century.

Izzo has an opportunity on this official visit to get Jase to commit and if he is able to do so, this would almost complete the puzzle that is the 2024 class.

While there is no date for a commitment from Richardson, this is still a recruitment that fans should still continue to watch.

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BB RECRUITING

Michigan State basketball: Elite 2025 guard confirms visit this weekend

Another one.

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Michigan State basketball
© Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

One of the top guards in the 2025 recruiting class has confirmed an unofficial visit this weekend with Michigan State basketball.

While we are a few days from football season kicking off, Michigan State basketball recruiting news is picking up. Just before finding out that five-star combo guard Jalen Haralson would be visiting soon, the Spartans also received word that 2025 guard Davion Hannah would be coming to East Lansing this weekend.

Davion confirmed the news with 247Sports MSU insider Justin Thind who mentioned that there will be two more big-time visitors this weekend for Izzo, as he mentioned in his VIP article. The three are big-time prospects and it is nice to see Tom Izzo getting them to campus early for an unofficial visit.

Hannah is a top-35 player in the 2025 class currently. The 247Sports Composite lists him as the No. 7 overall combo guard and the best player coming out of Wisconsin in the 2025 cycle. He stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 175 pounds currently and he has the skill set needed to develop into a very good point guard.

The Wisconsin prospect currently holds 12 scholarship offers. Most notable schools include Auburn, Wisconsin, Marquette, and Oregon. MSU is not one of them yet, however. I would imagine that an offer will follow his unofficial this weekend, assuming all goes well.

Michigan State’s recruiting has been on a hot streak of late. After landing the No. 4 overall class in 2023, MSU has followed up by landing two stellar recruits for 2024. One of their highly touted 2024 targets, Jase Richardson, is also a combo guard. Should he choose to go elsewhere, building relationships with Hannah in the 2025 class could pay huge dividends.

Now the next step is on Mel Tucker and staff give the recruits a great game to watch Friday. Doing so could help Hanna’s time in East Lansing become more memorable.

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