New Recruit Sulaimon Was a TIP Scholar

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Many times, coaches like to talk up the academic record of their recruits. Rasheed Sulaimon, who verbally committed to Duke last night, actually backs up that talk.

The top-ranked student at the academically rigorous Strake Jesuit College Prep in Houston, Texas, Sulaimon considered playing basketball at Stanford and even Harvard, according to his AAU coach Marland Lowe.

We found out today that Sulaimon's academic performance—and connection to Duke—started at a young age. Sulaimon was a Duke TIP scholar, an honor to 7th graders who score high even on their standardized test to take the SAT. Sulaimon, as a 7th-grader, even scored higher than most high schoolers on the SAT:

Mike White said that the five 7th graders had scored in the 95th percentile on the 6th grade Stanford Achievement test.  That score made them eligible to take either the ACT or the SAT exam which is usually taken by 11th graders to help them prepare for college.  According to Mike White, Rasheed Sulaimon’s score in SAT math came very close to earning state recognition.