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With the Maryland Terrapins out of the Damion Lee sweepstakes, the Terps have turned their attention towards recruiting former Duke Blue Devils shooting guard Rasheed Sulaimon as they are among 10-15 schools targeting the player according to Jeff Ermann of InsideMarylandSports.com.
Sulaimon was dismissed by the Blue Devils in late January primarily due to character concerns as Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski alluded to via GoDuke.com.
At the end of the day, whatever concerns the Blue Devils have with Sulaimon, it certainly has no impact on the laundry list of teams looking to add him to their respective rosters.
While the Terps would have loved to have Lee, Sulaimon provides greater value for the team as he has the capability of handling the ball up the floor which is a serious need for the Terps, as seen with the turnover struggles in the second round of the NCAA tournament this past season against the West Virginia Mountaineers.
During that game, once Terps point guard Melo Trimble left the game due to a head injury the entire team struggled bringing the ball up the floor against the Mountaineers' press defense. With JUCO point guard Jaylen Brantley being added to the roster next season, the team hopes they can eliminate those flaws, but only two skilled ball handlers is not enough.
Terps head coach Mark Turgeon seems to be putting an emphasis on skilled ball handlers with recruiting this year and potential commits for the fall of 2016 and 2017 respectively, with Sulaimon clearly fitting that bill. Sulaimon would be a pretty good addition to a team that is being projected to be in the top 5 entering the 2015-2016 season as he would free up space along the perimeter for Trimble and small forward Jake Layman to work.
Sulaimon averaged 10 points a game with the Blue Devils for three years while hitting on 39 percent of his three pointers and also shooting 77 percent from the free throw line.
A starting lineup consisting of Trimble, Sulaimon, Layman, power forward Robert Carter and center Diamond Stone is very lethal on paper and would likely make the Terps favorites to win the Big Ten next season if they can pull it off.