Cleaves’ alma mater site of shooting outside of tournament
The alma mater of Mateen Cleaves is reeling after being host to a scary incident in the final days of 2011, when a 19-year-old was shot in the parking lot outside of a popular holiday basketball tournament.
As reported by the Flint Journal, Detroit Free-Press and a handful of other Michigan outlets, the teenage shooting occurred at Flint (Mich.) Northern High while a heated game between Northern and Flint (Mich.) Southwestern High was wrapping up inside the Northern gym. The game was played as part of the annual Coca Cola Classic at Northern, which features both boys and girls basketball teams from around the region.
According to the Journal, police have already identified a suspect related to the shooting, though he was not immediately arrested pending an ongoing investigation into the incident. The police also refused to identify whether or not the shooting was directly connected to the basketball game, with most who were in the gym at the time of the crime reportedly unaware of the shooting.
The victim of the shooting, 19-year-old Kewan Bradley, was immediately transported to a nearby hospital after the incident and was listed in good condition within hours, with no indication that he would suffer further.
Still, the untimely act is the latest troubling incident to beset the alma mater of one of Michigan's favorite sons, former Michigan State and NBA point guard Mateen Cleaves, who stepped forward to speak up in an attempt to secure the school's future in December.
That can't be comforting to Flint, a city which is in need of more hallmarks of good times -- like the heritage of Flint Northern's hoops success -- and far fewer reminders of its problems, like shootings at prep basketball games.
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