Rasheed Sulaimon Transferring to Maryland Terrapins

Duke Blue Devils senior guard Rasheed Sulaimon transferred to the University of Maryland on /4/11.

The Maryland Terrapins have acquired former Duke Blue Devils guard Rasheed Sulaimon. 

The Terrapins issued a press release on Sulaimon’s acquisition on their official athletics website on /4/11:

“Rasheed Sulaimon will join the University of Maryland men’s basketball team this fall, head coach Mark Turgeon announced today. Sulaimon will have one year of eligibility with the Terrapins and is expected to play immediately. He is expected to graduate from Duke this summer with a degree in sociology in just three years.”

Former Duke guard Rasheed Sulaimon to transfer to Maryland http://t.co/Y5NmDgnF6k pic.twitter.com/h6oBslqvrq— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) /4/11, 2015

“I am extremely grateful to the University of Maryland and Coach Turgeon for this opportunity to further my education and continue to play the game I love,” Sulaimon told UMTerps.com Monday. “I’m looking forward to starting this next chapter at Maryland.”

For his part, Turgeon told the Terrapins’ official website he expressed confidence in Turgeon, whom he’s gone a long way back with:

“I’ve known Rasheed and his family since he was in seventh grade, first meeting him when he attended our basketball camp at Texas A&M. He was a very polite and poised young man and I recruited him while I was at Texas A&M 

“He was a very polite and poised young man and I recruited him while I was at Texas A&M because of his commitment to both academics and athletics. We competed against Rasheed on multiple occasions in the ACC and I was reminded of his dynamic playmaking ability. 

BBall: Sulaimon Joins Maryland Basketball Program: Rasheed Sulaimon will join the University of Maryland men’s… http://t.co/f4xi0b22aY— Maryland Terrapins (@umterps) /4/11, 2015

Rasheed Sulaimon has committed to Maryland. #DukeNation will always support you. Best of luck to you Sheed! pic.twitter.com/6Vwup5fDaR— Duke Basketball (@CoachKCourt) /4/11, 2015

“During our conversations with with Rasheed and his parents, Kenny and Angela, 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 his opportunity at the University of Maryland.”

Sulaimon, who went to the University of Maryland campus this past weekend to visit athletic director Kevin Anderson, president Wallace D. Loh and several of his new teammates, told ESPN’s Jeff Goodman on Monday trust is what ultimately made him comfortable with his transfer to the Terrapins:

“For everything I’ve been through, my family and I wanted me to be at a place where I trusted everyone. I’ve known Coach Turgeon and (assistant coach Dustin) Clark since I was 13. I trust them. 

“They have a chance to be a special team. They are great guys off the court, and they embraced me. At the end of the day, I wanted to go somewhere to have the opportunity to be part of something bigger than myself.

Former Duke wing Rasheed Sulaimon commits to Maryland basketball http://t.co/Cacrz5DRoj pic.twitter.com/I3Rk1rADsH— Testudo Times (@testudotimes) /4/11, 2015

Turgeon told Goodman the feeling is mutual:

“We did our due diligence. We were extremely thorough and talked to a lot of people and vetted the entire situation. I’ve known Rasheed and his family since he was 13, and I believe in him. There’s a trust factor, and we’ve had a strong relationship. 

“He wanted to win at the highest level. He’s a piece that fits what we’re doing here — both personality-wise and on the court. He’ll add leadership. We had other options, but we felt like Rasheed was the best one.”

Sulaimon will be the third senior on the Terrapins men’s basketball lineup for the 2015 NCAA season. The other two are Jake Layman and Varun Ram, per UMTerps.com. 

Goodman stresses Sulaimon was seen as a solid NBA prospect after his freshman year at Duke when he averaged 11.6 points per game. However, he wasn’t as productive in his next two seasons with the Blue Devils. 

Duke eventually dismissed him on Jan. 30, 2015. He is the first player in Duke head men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski’s 35-year tenure to be dismissed fomr the program, per ESPN’s C.L. Brown. 

With the addition of Rasheed Sulaimon, Maryland is a legit candidate to start the season No. 1: http://t.co/mmFYoO4Aat— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) /4/11, 2015

In a press release obtained by Brown, Krzyzewski said Sulaimon was “unable to consistently live up to the standrads required to be a member of our program.” 

In Goodman’s April 30 update, Sulaimon said he has never committed sexual assault, an allegation which he claims has nothing to do with his dismissal from Duke three months earlier:

“My being dismissed from the team had nothing to do with this allegation.

“I have never sexually assaulted, not only anyone on the Duke campus, but anyone, period. It’s not in my nature at all. I have great respect for the role of women in society. I would never demean or do anything to a woman in this manner. 

“No I’ve never done anything like this in my life.”

An NCAA source told Goodman that Sulaimon’s dismissal from the Blue Devils “was an accumulation of a whole lot of residue.”

Turgeon aims to boost his successful track record involving transferees. Among those he’s had during the course of four-year stint as Terrapins head men’s basketball coach include logan Aronhalt, Dez Wells, Evan Smotrycz, Richaud Pack, Robert Carter and Ram, per the university’s official athletics website. 

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