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After leading the state in scoring this year, PCC men’s basketball star guard Harold Cleveland signed a letter of intent to play for Xavier University of Louisiana on a full scholarship.Xavier is located in New Orleans and is a Division I National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) school and has been invited to five out of the last eight National Championship Tournaments.

Cleveland chose Xavier over the likes of California Lutheran University (Thousand Oaks), Chaminade University (Hawaii) and Maine, an NCAA Division I school.

Maine invited Cleveland for an official visit and California Lutheran offered him a similar scholarship to Xavier’s, but Cleveland was already sold on Xavier.

“I got a good vibe when I was there,” Cleveland said. “I felt comfortable and they are good people who talk about graduation.”

Cleveland said he would not regret passing up on playing major Division I basketball, because his education is his first priority.

“It’s every community college player’s dream to play [Division I] basketball,” Cleveland said. “But Xavier is a better fit for me.”

The Gold Rush began the season ranked tenth in the nation and finished their season with a 24-10 record, losing in the Gulf Coast Conference Tournament to top seed LSU-Shreveport. After the conference tournament, the Gold Rush fell to California Baptist in the first round of the National Championship Tournament.

Lancer Head Coach Mike Swanegan has no doubts that Cleveland will succeed at his next stop just like he did at PCC.

“He’ll have no problems down there,” Swanegan said. “He’s going to have a chance to start and should be able to put up points right away.”

Cleveland will play under Head Coach Dannton Jackson who has been at Xavier for five years amassing a 115-50 record, including over 20 wins in all five of his seasons. Jackson is enthusiastic about Cleveland’s addition to the team and is looking forward to what he will bring to the Gold Rush.

“Harold can shoot and score in many ways, but never forces shots,” Jackson said. “He is a smart basketball player.”
Even though Jackson was impressed with Cleveland’s skill on the basketball court, he was more impressed with him off the court.

“Character is a big thing here,” Jackson said. “When he visited us he blew us out of the water.”

Jackson left a lasting impression on Cleveland that distinguished him from other coaches.

“Coach Jackson takes care of his players and graduation,” Cleveland said. “You normally don’t see coaches who care about your future, they just want you to play ball.”

The Gold Rush are losing senior shooting guard Mark Stewart, who led the team with 13.6 points per game and is looking for another guard to fill their stat sheets. Averaging over 25 points per game for PCC this year, Jackson thinks that Cleveland can fill that void.

“Harold can put the ball in the basket,” Jackson said. “And we lost our leading scorer, so that’s going to give him a chance to start.”

Even as he exits PCC, Cleveland has nothing but good things to say about his experience on campus.

“I want to say thanks to coach Swanegan and his assistant coaches as well as Mike Jones, Mike McClellan,” Cleveland said. “I also want to thank my family, teammates and friends for all of their support.”

Cleveland leaves for New Orleans in May to take summer classes, but will return to Pasadena before Xavier’s season begins in November.

“I don’t want to be too homesick,” Cleveland said.

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