FSU basketball: Matthew Cleveland wins ACC Sixth Man of the Year Award

I think we should rename it the FSU basketball award nowadays. Freshman Matthew Cleveland becomes the fourth consecutive FSU player to win the ACC Sixth Man of the Year Award.

The announcement came Monday morning after the conclusion of the regular season that saw Matthew Cleveland finish strong in the final eight games.

Cleveland was fairly consistent all season, finishing the season averaging 26 mins per game, 11.4 ppg, and 4.6 rebounds.

He shot 45.2 percent from the floor and averaged 1.3 steals per game. However, the final eight games saw his average increase to 14.2 ppg. Cleveland follows the likes of Scottie Barnes, Patrick Williams, and Mfiondu Kabengele.

All three of those players were eventual first-round draft selections, with Barnes (No. 4 overall) and Williams (No. 4 overall) selected top five.

Cleveland has eerily similar numbers to Barnes, who won the award last year. Barnes shot a better percentage overall and was better slightly better from the three-point and free-throw line. Ironically, I haven’t seen or heard much hype about Cleveland becoming a lottery pick in the upcoming draft.

If he receives that draft grade from teams, I think he should go, as we saw Scottie Barnes flourish in the NBA his rookie season. However, Cleveland still has a lot of areas in his game to refine. He doesn’t have much of a consistent jump shot and likely isn’t as good with the ball in his hands as Barnes was, especially when it came to passing the ball.

He’s an elite talent that runs the floor well, but another year in college would likely guarantee he’d be a lottery pick in next year’s NBA Draft. It would also be a boost for Leonard Hamilton, who had to play lots of young freshmen due to multiple injuries over the year. We’ll see how it shakes out, but Cleveland could be a difference-maker if he decides to return for another year.