Earlier this week, a report in The Chronicle came out and shined some light on why Duke dismissed former guard Rasheed Sulaimon from the program. Sulaimon was allegedly dismissed from the program after several sexual assault allegations were made against him over the course of several years. While he is no longer playing basketball at Duke, Sulaimon is still at the school and in good academic standing.
Today, a report in Sports Illustrated elaborated on Sulaimon’s current situation. According to the report, Sulaimon is “not currently under investigation by the school,” and his dismissal was because of “an accumulation of events.”
From Sports Illustrated:
Dismissed from the Duke basketball program in January, Rasheed Sulaimon has been in the national spotlight this week because of allegations that he committed sexual assault, while the school has had to deflect inquiries of an institutional coverup.
Yet SI.com has learned that Sulaimon is not currently under investigation by the school. This was confirmed by Bob Ekstrand, who is serving as Sulaimon’s advisor. While Ekstrand is a local Durham attorney, he is reluctant to identify himself as Sulaimon’s “lawyer,” since the former player is not subject to any current legal proceedings.
Multiple sources say there was not one specific incident that served as the impetus for Sulaimon’s dismissal. Rather it was an accumulation of events that led to that action, including a missed 11 p.m. curfew that occurred shortly before he was kicked off the team.
On Monday, Duke’s student newspaper, The Chronicle, published a story claiming two female students told peers at two separate retreats last year that they were sexually assaulted by Sulaimon. The Chronicle reported that high-ranking figures within the Duke athletic department, including men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, became aware of these allegations as early as March 2014, roughly 10 months before Sulaimon was dismissed.
Krzyzewski and the athletic department have not publicly addressed any specifics regarding the situation, citing federal privacy laws. The university looked into allegations against Sulaimon at some point last year, SI.com has learned. The alleged victims did not file an official complaint to the school or the local police department. It is unclear if they participated in the investigation.
Sulaimon was notified when an investigation was opened, and then told weeks later that the matter was closed and the university did not have enough information to proceed.
A source tell SI.com that that was the last time Sulaimon had heard from Duke’s Office of Student Conduct in Student Affairs. There is currently no open investigation against Sulaimon, at least to his knowledge. However that should be telling: It is standard procedure for accused students to receive initial notice if an investigation is being opened against them.
The Durham Police Department confirmed that it had no report on Sulaimon.
