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Duke transfer Rasheed Sulaimon commits to Maryland

By Connor Muldowney

Jan 3, 2015; Durham, NC, USA; Duke Blue Devils guard Rasheed Sulaimon (14) reacts after scoring a three-point shot against the Boston College Eagles in their game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Dolejs-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 3, 2015; Durham, NC, USA; Duke Blue Devils guard Rasheed Sulaimon (14) reacts after scoring a three-point shot against the Boston College Eagles in their game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Dolejs-USA TODAY Sports /
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Reports are coming out that Duke transfer Rasheed Sulaimon has committed to Maryland after visiting the school this week.

If you’re a program in the Big Ten, you have to be thinking to yourself: ‘how is Maryland so good?’ Well, they’re about to get even better as Duke Blue Devils transfer Rasheed Sulaimon will be playing his final year in college with the Maryland Terrapins — a team that has been in the conference for just one season and finished second in last year’s standings.

This offseason has been a great one for the Terrapins after an early exit in the 2015 NCAA Tournament as Mark Turgeon snagged five-star Dominican-born center Diamond Stone and now he has lured Duke transfer Rasheed Sulaimon to town. Not to mention, possible first-round draft pick Melo Trimble decided to come back for a sophomore season.

Maryland seems to be one of the up-and-coming college basketball programs and it keeps on getting stronger with additions of Stone and now Sulaimon.

Not many people knew where the former Blue Devil would end up after getting dismissed by coach Mike Krzyzewski last season for failing to live up to the team’s expectations. Coach K repeatedly said that he didn’t seem to realize that playing for Duke was a privilege.

Sure, it’s tough for the rest of the Big Ten to see that the team that was already favorited to win the conference landed one of the best transfers out there, but the tougher news is that he’s eligible to play right away and doesn’t have to sit for a year.

Teams like Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin are wondering how they got such bad luck with this one. Heck, the Spartans were predicted by many to finish first or second in the conference, but recently lost five-star recruit Caleb Swanigan to a decommit — their luck is just invisible right now.

In this three seasons at Duke, Sulaimon recorded over 900 career points, but his points per game average dropped by about two every season — the opposite of what you would hope to see from a star player.

Despite the drop in production over the past few years, Maryland is getting one of the hottest commodities in the college basketball market.

This is the worst case scenario for the rest of the Big Ten and best case for Maryland.

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