By: Kevin Duffy
The Duke Blue Devils under Coach Krzyzewski have been able to produce great teams along with extraordinary people. One such recruit with a bright future ahead of him is 2012 Duke commit, Rasheed Sulaimon. The 6'3 guard is an honor student, very well spoken, and an outstanding ball player. I recently had the opportunity to talk with Rasheed about everything Duke, his summer, his goals, and more. Please check it out!
KD:So what's up with this "Fab 5" idea at Duke?
RS:Well you know me and L.J grew up together and one day we were watching the Fab 5 documentary. I knew that me and Alex Murphy were committed already to Duke and I knew that Duke was still recruiting L.J, Shabazz, and Tony Parker and I was just like L.J we can make like our own Fab 5 and a couple weekends ago at the All American Championship,it was on ESPNU,all five of us were down at Houston during the Final Four and so we kind of just talked about it a little. Tony and Shabazz were like yeah that could happen too that would be a cool idea but you know they still have some other schools that they are looking at too.
KD:How did you feel about Jalen Rose' comments about Duke?
RS:Jalen Rose's comments,it doesn't really affect me too much. He felt that way about Duke in the past, I do feel like his comments were false. Duke has shown that they recruit great players and great people, it doesn't matter what background they came from whether they have single parents or have both parents.It doesn't really affect me too much because I know Duke is not that way. They're just a great program.
KD:How is it to play with L.J Rose in AAU?
RS:He's a great point guard. We kind of grew up together a little bit, we've been knowing each other since we were 4 so I've been playing with him for a very long time. We have great chemistry. Him being 6'5, he has a great advantage as a point guard so he could see over the defense and he makes passes even when you don't think he can make it. He always gives it to you in the perfect spot, he finds you where you have the best advantage to make a play. Playing with him is just a great blessing because he does a lot of work for you so when you catch the ball really half the time all you have to do is catch it and shoot it.
KD:Why did you decide to attend Duke?
RS:I decided to attend Duke because it just seemed like a great fit for me. Their style of play fit my style of play. You know my parents are big on academics and Duke is a really great school academically and when we visited we just liked the campus life and everything like that. And of course Coach K, he has a great staff, he's a great person, great coach. I was excited about the opportunity to play for him so that's when I pulled the trigger.
KD:What position do you see yourself playing at Duke?
RS:I was just talking to the coaching staff and they said they are comfortable with me playing both the one and the two,they think I'm versatile enough to do both.
KD:Can you talk about the future of Duke?
RS:Well Duke they have some great players that are currently on the team right now and they have a great class coming in next year,you know Austin Rivers, Plumlee, Gbinji, and the possibility of getting DeAndre Daniels also. I just think they have a great, great, team and they are going to be young and very talented and I just think the future of Duke is going to be really, really good.
KD:How do you feel about the Duke-North Carolina rivalry?
RS:It's a great rivalry. I actually visited Duke during when they played at Cameron against North Carolina. The atmosphere is just crazy, it gets really intense and both teams really want to win and both teams really dislike each other. Just the opportunity to play in that in a couple years is just really exciting.
KD:How long do you see yourself in college?
RS:My intention is to go there for 4 years. Like I said my parents are real big on academics. I'm planning on going there for 4 years and getting my degree and everything like that. If an opportunity comes where I have a really good shot at making the NBA, I'll sit down with Coach K, the staff and my parents. If it's a good decision for me to leave early IF, then maybe I would leave early. But my intention is to go there for four years.
KD:What camps are you going to this summer?
RS:So far that I know of I'm going to the Deron Williams, NBA Top 100 Camp and the LeBron James Skills Academy.
KD:What do you feel you have to improve?
RS:I still have to improve my strength, I have to get stronger each and every day. I have to get quicker laterally to become the potential lock down defender that I think I can become and to continue to work on my range on my shooting.
KD:Who would you compare your game to and why?
RS:Just from what other people have told me they say my game is kind of like Jamal Crawford. They said I have a really good mid range game, kind of crafty with the ball, and I have long arms like him too so just from what other people are saying, Jamal Crawford.
KD:What are your goals for this summer? and next high school season?
RS:Well obviously my goal for this summer is to make it to Peach Jam. Last summer our team thought we didn't fulfil our potential and we fell short and that just made us much more hungrier this year to make Peach Jam and to ultimately win it. For my high school season, we won Districts last year but we went out early in the playoffs. So my goals for this high school season is to of course win Districts again but this time to go further in the playoffs and to win State.
KD:What schools were you considering before you chose Duke?
RS:Before I committed to Duke, the few schools I considered were Texas,Texas A&M,Kansas, Arizona, North Carolina and Georgetown.
KD:Anything you have to say to the Cameron Crazies and Duke fans?
RS:I can't wait to get to Duke. Each and every night I put on a Duke uniform I am going to try my hardest to win each and play my heart out for the Cameron Crazies.
