Suns boost Michigan State ties, add Mateen Cleaves as player development coach
LAS VEGAS – The Phoenix Suns will continue the Michigan State connection with the addition of Mateen Cleaves as a player-development coach.
Cleaves was at Phoenix’s practice on July 10 in Las Vegas, prior to the Suns opening NBA Summer League action on July 11 against the Washington Wizards at Thomas & Mack Center.
Cleaves and Suns team owner Mat Ishbia were teammates on Michigan State’s 2000 national championship team. Cleaves was a first-team All-American his senior year in leading the Spartans to a national title under Tom Izzo while Ishbia was a walk-on player.
Michigan State's head coach Tom Izzo, center, hugs former player Mateen Cleaves, right, after the Spartans win over Oregon on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, at the Breslin Center East Lansing. Former player Mo Peterson, left, look on.
The Detroit Pistons drafted Cleaves 14th overall in the 2000 NBA Draft. Playing six NBA seasons for four different teams, Cleaves averaged 3.6 points in 167 games (10 starts).
Cleaves has been a leadership coach for Ishbia’s United Wholesale Mortgage since 2019, according to his LinkedIn profile. He’s the latest addition to the Suns with MSU ties.
Ishbia elevated Brian Gregory to general manager in May after initially hiring him as a consultant in 2023.
An assistant coach on that Michigan State 2000 national championship team, Gregory then became director of player programming a year later before replacing James Jones as general manager.
Jones, a three-time NBA champion as a player, was shifted to senior adviser. The NBA named Jones head of league basketball operations this week.
Gregory hired Jordan Ott to replace Mike Budenholzer, who was fired after one season as the Suns went 36-46 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2019-20, which was the last time they experienced a losing season until last season.
Ott spent seven years working for Izzo, with the first two as a graduate assistant and the last five as a video coordinator until 2013.
Earning his master’s degree at MSU in athletic administration, Ott then took a job with the Atlanta Hawks as a video coordinator to begin his NBA coaching career.
Charlie Bell is another Spartans connection. He is listed as a personnel evaluation for the Phoenix’s G League team, the Valley Suns, which he began in September 2024.
Bell was a junior on Michigan State’s 2000 national championship team. Undrafted, Bell played seven NBA seasons as he started his pro career with the Suns in the 2001-02 season. Bell averaged 8.5 points in 376 NBA games (137 starts).
Bell later worked for Ishbia at UWM for nearly four years, serving in success track training from January 2021 to September 2021 and as an account executive from September 2021 to September 2024, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The Valley Suns reached the G League playoffs in their inaugural season.
Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
