Rasheed Sulaimon Off Duke Basketball Team

Rasheed Sulaimon has been kicked off the Duke Basketball team. That is a rare event. In one thousand career victories, Coach Mike Krzyzewski had never kicked somebody off the team. Sulaimon becomes the first and possibly last player to have that distinction. The junior guard leaves the court, but he is still in good academic standing at the school and one pace to finish out the spring semester. Then he will probably transfer.

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Sulaimon was a young player who came to Duke three years ago. His freshman year saw the 6’3” guard play big minutes as a starter due to the lack of depth that Duke had at the wing positions. Sulaimon was prone to immature antics, and collected some unnecessary technical fouls. Despite Rodney Hood waiting on the transfer wings, Sulaimon must have believed that he was plugged into the Duke starting lineup for the long term.

Sulaimon found himself on the bench as a sophomore. The talented Hood became the go-to small forward while senior guard Andre Dawkins took over big minutes at the two guard spot. The arrival of Jabari Parker also dictated fewer touches for Sulaimon, and his sophomore campaign never really took off.

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Hood and Parker were replaced by Jahlil Okafor, Tyus Jones, and Justise Winslow. Sulaimon’s production declined to twelve minutes a game. None of this lessoned production affected his release. Sulaimon evidently never grew up in his time at Duke. There are plenty of on court examples, but there must be a trove of off court related things that only the Duke team knows about.

Sulaimon will have one year of eligibility remaining whether he can graduate from Duke early or not. He was never red-shirted, so he can take the year that he would need without graduating. That might even be better for his development. A year away would allow him to get refocused and ready to play with his new team.