Duke University has been mum on why they kicked Rasheed Sulaimon off the basketball team, but a new report indicates it could have been for allegations of sexual assault.
According to the Duke Chronicle, such allegations first appeared more than a year before Duke head men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski dismissed Sulaimon. Since the late Jan. dismissal, Krzyzewski and other athletic department officials have not disclosed specific reasons for the punishment.
At the time, the coach only said Sulaimon was "unable to consistently live up to the standards required to be a member of our program," according to ESPN.
The first allegations of sexual assault arose during the 2013-2014 academic year, the Chronicle reported. Two separate women accused Sulaimon, but never reported the crime to Duke's or Durham's police departments. In March 2014, the Blue Devils team psychologist first became aware of the allegations, so Krzyzewski and certain staff members knew about them shortly after, the Chronicle reported.
Shortly after the newspaper published their report Monday, Krzyzewski had to be on the weekly ACC coaches' conference call. ESPN, Yahoo Sports and other news outlets confirmed the coach repeatedly declined to answer questions about Sulaimon or the Chronicle's report.
Coach K on Sulaimon sexual assault allegations: "I don't have any comment about that."
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) March 2, 2015
One last try by a radio guy to Coach K - “Why the silence?” - followed by a "Why would I change? I have no comment. That’s it.” #Duke — Brian Hamilton (@BrianHamiltonSI) March 2, 2015
That's now four separate "No Comments" from Mike Krzyzewski on the ACC conference call regarding the Rasheed Sulaimon allegations.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) March 2, 2015
The school released a statement on the matter as well, ESPN reported.
"Duke is prohibited by law from disclosing publicly any particular student's confidential education records," the statement said. "The university takes immediate action when it receives reports of alleged sexual misconduct or other violations of the student conduct code, which includes investigation and referral to the Student Conduct Office for review in a timely manner as required by law. Duke also takes every possible action internally to ensure anyone who raises a complaint of sexual misconduct is supported and the campus community is safe."
Sulaimon did not comment on the report and the alleged victims did not talk to the Chronicle for the story.
Sulaimon's dismissal was the first in Krzyzewski's 35-year career at Duke.
