Former Duke Guard Rasheed Sulaimon Transferring To Maryland
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Former Duke guard Rasheed Sulaimon will play his final season at Maryland.
Coach Mark Turgeon announced the addition of Sulaimon to his roster on Monday. The guard from Houston said on Twitter that he is "blessed and honored for the opportunity."
Duke coach Mike Krzyzyewski kicked Sulaimon off the team Jan. 29 — one day after losing at Notre Dame — for being "unable to consistently live up to the standards" of his program. The specific reasons for his dismissal have never been discussed publicly.
Sulaimon, a former McDonald's All-American, averaged 7.5 points, 2 rebounds and 1.8 assists while coming off the bench in all 20 games prior to his dismissal.
His playing time steadily decreased during his time at Duke: He started 33 of 36 games as a freshman in 2012-13, then bounced in and out of the starting lineup the following year. He was benched for a home win against Michigan that year, then played just 5 minutes in the next game against Gardner-Webb.
Sulaimon was in good academic standing when he was dismissed, and expects to graduate this summer with a sociology degree and play immediately for the Terps.
He remained enrolled at Duke while his former teammates captured the national championship.
Sulaimon and Turgeon have a history: The former Texas A&M coach tried to sign the native Texan out of high school in 2012.
"I recruited him while I was at Texas A&M because of his commitment to both academics and athletics," Turgeon said. The coach added that during a conversation with Sulaimon and his parents, "Rasheed expressed the importance of proving that he is committed to being a great student-athlete and a selfless teammate. I have full confidence that Rasheed will embrace this opportunity at the University of Maryland."
Sulaimon joins a team that enters this season as a favorite in the Big Ten. The Terps graduated two guards — Dez Wells and Richaud Pack — but return rising sophomore Melo Trimble and senior Jake Layman, and signed McDonald's All-America big man Diamond Stone.
Maryland went 28-7 last season with a school-record 26 regular-season wins, finished second in the Big Ten in its first year in the conference and reached its first NCAA Tournament since 2010.
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