Wichita State basketball assistant coach departing for same job at Texas A&M
After joining head coach Paul Mills’ first staff at Wichita State in 2023, assistant coach T.J. Cleveland is leaving the Shockers to accept the same role at Texas A&M.
Texas A&M publicly introduced Cleveland as an assistant coach late Thursday afternoon, as he will join the SEC staff of recently hired head coach Bucky McMillan, a fellow Birmingham, Alabama native.
After keeping the same staff intact for his first two seasons with the Shockers, Mills will now be looking to hire a new assistant coach during a critical time of the offseason, with the team looking to fill out its roster in the transfer portal.
WSU’s other two recruiting assistants included associate head coach Kenton Paulino and Quincy Acy, while Iain Laymon and Xavier Holland are assistant coaches on the bench.
Cleveland joined Mills’ initial staff in June 2023 as a replacement following the sudden departure of Chris Hollender, who had to step away from the program for “personal reasons.”
A former point guard at Arkansas, Cleveland worked closely with WSU’s guards and was considered a top-notch recruiter with a specialty in the South. He helped the Shockers improve to 19-15 this past season with the program’s first postseason berth in four years.
Cleveland came to WSU after four seasons as the associate head coach at St. John’s under Mike Anderson, his uncle. In fact, Cleveland had spent time working under Anderson on his staffs at UAB, Missouri, Arkansas and St. John’s for the prior 17 seasons.
This story was originally published April 10, 2025 at 6:05 PM.
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