University of Missouri Athletics

Matt Cline is in his fourth season as an assistant coach with the Missouri men’s basketball program.

Leading the team’s offense during his first three seasons on campus, Cline has had an immediate impact on the Tigers’ success. The Tigers have ranked among the national leaders in numerous offensive categories, highlighted by finishing ninth in the country during the 2024-25 season with 83.6 points per game – the team’s highest average since the 1989-90 campaign.

Overall, Mizzou has ranked in the top 40 nationally a total of 16 times in offensive categories during Cline’s three years with the program, including nine different statistics during the 2022-23 campaign.

The offensive strength has helped Mizzou reestablish itself on the national stage. In his first year, the Tigers completed their most successful campaign since joining the SEC with a trip to the conference semifinals, the team’s most wins in 11 seasons and MU’s first postseason victory in 13 years. Most recently, Mizzou collected three top-five wins during the 2024-25 campaign – the program’s most since 1988-89 – while the Tigers advanced to their second NCAA Tournament in three seasons.

Individually, Kobe Brown posted one of the most efficient campaigns nationally en route to first-team All-SEC honors and being selected in the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft. During his second season, he helped Sean East II raise his scoring average by 10.3 points – the most by a Tiger since 1976-77 – while Tamar Bates, Caleb Grill and Mark Mitchell all earned postseason accolades during the 2024-25 season. East (Lakers), Bates (Nuggets) and Grill (Bulls) all signed contracts with NBA franchises following their graduation.

Cline joined MU after spending the 2021-22 season as special assistant to head coach at Cleveland State – helping the Vikings claim the Horizon League regular-season title.

The Binghamton, New York, native also had a four-year stint as an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan. The Eagles claimed 22 wins with an appearance in the CBI Postseason Tournament during his first season as an assistant with Cline working with six all-conference selections and the 2018 MAC Defensive Player of the Year in his four years on the sideline.

Cline, who also served as the Eagles’ Director of Basketball Operations from 2014 to 2016, was named one of the 50 Most Impactful Mid-Major Assistants in 2020 by Silver Waves Media before again being honored by the organization in 2023 on its “50 Next Up List.”

Prior to his time at Eastern Michigan, Cline served as Director of Basketball Operations at East Tennessee State University during the 2016-17 season, helping the Buccaneers capture the Southern Conference regular-season and tournament championships and finishing with a 27-8 overall record.

Cline received his first coaching opportunity as an assistant at Northwest Florida State College during the 2013-14 season, while also serving as a graduate assistant at Florida State from 2011 to 2013. He helped the Seminoles to the program’s first-ever ACC Tournament title and a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament during the 2011-12 campaign.

A former student manager at South Alabama, Cline also cofounded "The Manager Connection", which aims to pair current student-managers with former student-managers who now have successful careers in college or professional athletics.

Cline earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from South Alabama in 2011, while receiving his master’s degree in sport management from Florida State in 2013.

Cline and his wife, Rebekah, reside in Columbia.