Former Duke guard Rasheed Sulaimon spoke publicly Wednesday for the first time since his dismissal from the Blue Devils basketball program, denying that he was ever involved in a sexual assault.
In an interview with ESPN’s Jeff Goodman, Sulaimon did not detail the exact reason for his dismissal from Duke, but noted that “I have never sexually assaulted, not only anyone on the Duke campus, but anyone period.”
“Me being dismissed from the team had nothing to do with this allegation,” Sulaimon said in his first public comments since being dismissed by coach Mike Krzyzewski. He did not specify what the reason was, though he said he was frustrated and could have handled the situation better.
“I have never sexually assaulted, not only anyone on the Duke campus, but anyone period,” he said. “It’s not in my nature at all. I have great respect for the role of women in society. I would never demean or do anything to a woman in this manner. No, I’ve never done anything like this in my life.”
The 6-foot-4 Sulaimon, a McDonald’s All American coming out of high school in Texas, was dismissed from the Duke team on Jan. 29.
