Duke basketball 2013-14 player review: Rasheed Sulaimon

With Duke's season in the books, The Blue Zone will review the seasons of all the Blue Devils, beginning with the freshman Monday and ending with the seniors and graduate students Friday.

Rasheed Sulaimon

• Year: Sophomore
• Height: 6-foot-4
• Position: Guard
• This year's statline: 9.9 PPG, 2.4 RPG,2.4 APG, 17 games started
• The Blue Zone's projected statline: 13.5 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 2.5 APG, 35 games started

Season breakdown: More than any other player on the Duke team, Sulaimon had an incredibly turbulent 2013-14 campaign. Pegged as a surefire starter in November, he quickly lost that job early in nonconference play and was benched entirely in Duke's Dec. 3 win at home against Michigan. But the Houston native was able to work his way out of his prolonged slump and wound up hitting two of the biggest shots of Duke's season. The first—a corner triple with 22 seconds remaining—helped the Blue Devils avoid another late game collapse at home against Virginia. The second sent the best college basketball game of the season into overtime, as Sulaimon pulled up for a 3-pointer at the buzzer at the Carrier Dome Feb. 1 against Syracuse. But after averaging 11.4 PPG as a freshman in 2012-13, Sulaimon wasn't able to consistently knock down shots or get to the rim in his sophomore campaign, and his body language frequently gave away his frustrations.

Results relative to expectations: Sulaimon's offensive numbers figured to take a hit with the arrival of Jabari Parker in Durham and the emergence of the now-eligible Rodney Hood, but the sophomore wasn't expected to struggle as mightily as he did this season. Moving forward—with or without Parker and Hood—the sophomore will need to become more consistent on offense and attack north/south to get to the basket rather than laterally. Sulaimon tallied 20 points for just the third time this season and hit five triples in Duke's season-ending loss to Mercer, a sign of what he's capable of heading into his junior campaign.

In case you've missed it, we've already reviewed: Alex Murphy, Matt Jones, Semi Ojeleye, Jabari Parker, Amile Jefferson