Rasheed Sulaimon just made a bit of dubious history. By getting tossed off the Duke basketball team, Sulaimon now owns the distinction of being the first play ever dismissed from the team in Mike Krzyzewski’s very lengthy tenure as the head coach of the Blue Devils.
This one is a real shocker. There was Sulaimon celebrating with everyone else this past Sunday as Coach K won for the 1000th time in a thrilling victory over St. John’s. Now he’s off the team.
A statement from Krzyzewski spelled things out pretty clearly as to what the reason was for what amounts to the first player firing of his career.
“Rasheed has been consistently unable to live up to the standards required to be a member of our program. It is a privilege to represent Duke University and with that privilege comes the responsibility to conduct oneself in a certain manner. After Rasheed consistently struggled to meet the necessary obligations, it became apparent that it was time to dismiss him from the program.”
I’m only guessing, but my logical conclusion is that after being mostly a starter for two seasons, Sulaimon had trouble accepting a role coming off the bench. He had said all the right things in interviews I’d read. But what takes place in practice is largely unknown and I’d at least have to speculate that’s where most the problems that led to this unhappy ending took place.
The impact the loss of Sulaimon will have on the team moving forward is obviously not yet known. Matt Jones is certain to pick up extra minutes and the speculation is that freshman guard Grayson Allen will have an expanded role as well. I think it’s a big loss if no one else can step up. Sulaimon wasn’t a star for Duke, but he held quite a bit of value as a sixth man and it’s not like Duke is the deepest team around.
We should begin to comprehend the consequences this move has on Duke right away as they have a huge game with Virginia up next. Mark this one down as must see TV for those who believe there’s more to learning about a team that just looking at the box scores.