Former Pace student Matthew Cleveland signs with Dallas Mavericks
Former Pace Academy participant Matthew Cleveland has signed with the Dallas Mavericks Photo by Fred Assaf Credit Fred Assaf After years of hard work and practice Matthew Cleveland is officially an NBA contestant After going undrafted in the NBA draft the guard and Atlanta native signed a two-way contract with the Dallas Mavericks on July The two-way contract allows Cleveland to split time between the Mavericks and the Texas Legends which is the Mavericks G-League affiliate crew Before his collegiate and now professional career Cleveland left his mark at Pace Academy playing for three years under Head Coach Sharman White Cleveland helped lead the Pace Academy Knights to notoriety and became a five-star recruit and the th ranked high school basketball prospect in the country in Cleveland eventually became the ACC Sixth-Man of the Year during his freshman year of college at Florida State University He played there for three years and then transferred to the University of Miami to finish his collegiate career During his final season with the Hurricanes he averaged points rebounds and assists while shooting percent from the field and percent from three allowing him to make the All-ACC Gang Honorable Mentions White knows how hard it is to make it to the league and is proud of Cleveland s accomplishments I am extremely proud of Matt because this is not an easy journey White announced There are a lot of guys that dream of making it to the NBA but very inadequate can genuinely say they made it He still has a insufficient more procedures to go but he has at last gotten to that level White continued to watch Cleveland s improvement from afar after he graduated from Pace I think Matt is a phenomenal athlete White explained He has continued to grow in the competition and develop his skills like his ability to create his own shot Matt is just an elite-level athlete and he can do selected things that just make people say Wow on the court Cleveland joins the history books at Pace becoming the second contestant from the school to go to the NBA The first was Wendell Carter Jr who was drafted seventh overall in to the Chicago Bulls and has since made a name for himself in the league as the starting center for the Orlando Magic Cleveland might be the second Pace contestant to make it to the NBA but he is the first to do so during White s tenure as head coach It s just an honor to be able to coach someone at that caliber White reported When they re in high school you want to think they will make it to the NBA but it s a hard reality to focus on because it is such a hard venture So him being able to accomplish it is good for our school our society him his family and our project Even though the Mavericks passed him over in the draft White praised the Dallas club for picking up Cleveland I think the Mavericks have done their due diligence in seeking him out White mentioned I think he s going to be every bit of what they thought he could be Cleveland has already begun playing with the Mavericks at summer league in Las Vegas Coach White hopes to journey out there to see him in action In addition to coaching at Pace White is also the head coach of the USA Basketball Men s U National Club Through this role White also coached this year s first pick Cooper Flagg who is also headed to the Mavericks I had the chance to coach Cooper on three different occasions and I can say that he s very deserving of that number one pick White revealed I ve enjoyed every experience with him and I m looking forward to seeing him out there as well and supporting him throughout his pro career The post Former Pace apprentice Matthew Cleveland signs with Dallas Mavericks appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta
