Mike Krzyzewski Dismisses Rasheed Sulaimon; 1st Time Coach K Has Dismissed a Player at Duke
ByIn a move that took the college basketball world by surprise, the Duke Blue Devils' junior guard Rasheed Sulaimon has been dismissed from the team.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski announced Sulaimon's dismissal in a press release Friday but did not give a reason behind the decision.
"Rasheed has been unable to consistently live up to the standards required to be a member of our program," Krzyzewski said in the release. "It is a privilege to represent Duke University and with that privilege comes the responsibility to conduct oneself in a certain manner. After Rasheed repeatedly struggled to meet the necessary obligations, it became apparent that it was time to dismiss him from the program."
An unnamed source told ESPN Sulaimon was not dismissed for any one reason, but rather for several reasons.
"It was an accumulation of a whole lot of residue," the source said. "It had built up over time.
"His talent does not outweigh his issues."
In 35 seasons leading Duke and 1,000 wins between the Blue Devils and Army, Krzyzewski has never dismissed a basketball player from his team.
In his third season at Duke, Sulaimon saw his point per game total take a third straight dip, as did his minutes. What's more, players like Quinn Cook, Tyus Jones and Justise Winslow are stepping up as major contributors on this year's team.
"This was something that I had to really look in the mirror and think about and I had to come to grips with because this team is really talented," Sulaimon told ESPN in Nov. about a taking a lesser role on the team. "They're not going to need anything too extra or out of the ordinary. If you just do simple and just play hard you'll be successful."
Duke is coming off a 77-73 loss to Notre Dame a couple days after Krzyzewski's 1,000th win and will play Virginia on Saturday.