CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rasheed Sulaimon may be Duke’s only signee for next season, but he showed Saturday night that his play is multidimensional.
Sulaimon, a shooting guard, got the opportunity to develop his point guard skills with North Carolina-bound point guard Marcus Paige out with an injury at the Jordan Brand Classic in Charlotte, N.C. Running the show offensively for much of the night, Sulaimon helped the West defeat the East 99-95.
“[The Duke coaching staff] told me I’m going to be playing a lot of both positions next year, so I’ve been working on my point guard skills,” Sulaimon said. “Coming here it kind of helped me play the point against great competition.”
The East dominated the West in the early going, leading 22-8 with 11:49 remaining, led by eight points from J.P. Tokoto, who signed with North Carolina last fall.
Sulaimon started off slowly, and the West looked out of sync in the half-court offense, but with about nine minutes remaining in the first half the future Blue Devil guard and Shabazz Muhammad, who committed to UCLA over Duke and Kentucky last week, started to find their grooves to help reduce the deficit. Muhammad scored a quick four points and Sulaimon had a stretch where he scored seven consecutive points to bring the West team within five at halftime.
“In the beginning of the game we didn’t start off so well, and we didn’t have a lot of energy,” Muhammad said. “We had to step it up.”
Defensively, Sulaimon had an especially difficult assignment guarding Rodney Purvis, who will play at N.C. State next year. The future ACC rivals battled throughout the night, and Purvis proved to be extremely difficult to keep out of the lane. Doing most of his damage in transition, the 6-foot-3 combo guard scored a game-high 22 points for the East team en route to winning the MVP award for the East.
“Rodney is a great player, very strong and drives hard to the basket,” Sulaimon said. “In transition he’s very deadly.”
Muhammad, the second-ranked player in the class of 2012, was key in the second half. He scored 20 points on the night, most of which came on thunderous dunks in the open court, to earn the MVP award for the West and help them take the lead early in the second half.
The West’s Alex Poythress—a 6-foot-8 wing who will play for Kentucky—showed off his versatility and efficiency, scoring 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field. He and his future teammate, shooting guard Archie Goodwin, helped ensure that the East did not regain the lead by netting 14 points on the night.
Despite playing out of position, Sulaimon showed why he is considered one of the best guards in the class of 2012. The Houston product finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and two assists in just 19 minutes to help hold off a late rally by the East.
Shooting 3-of-6 from 3-point range, Sulaimon was the most productive shooter on the floor, as the only player to hit more than one 3-pointer in the game. Although he did commit four turnovers on the night, the experience playing point guard should help Sulaimon before he arrives in Durham in July.
“I felt comfortable with [playing point guard],” Sulaimon said. “I thought I should’ve did some things better, but at the end of the day we got the win and I played well enough for us to get the win.”
Along with Sulaimon, Duke fans were also keeping tabs on Blue Devil target Tony Parker, who finished with eight points and 12 rebounds for the East. Parker will announce his long-awaited college decision Friday at Miller Grove High School in Lithonia, Ga. The Blue Devils are thought to be a long shot at this point to land the big man, who is expected to commit to UCLA, though he said after the game he is still considering Duke, Kansas, Ohio State and Georgia.
The Duke coaching staff is also awaiting a decision from Amile Jefferson, a 6-foot-9 combo forward from Philadelphia. Jefferson is the third-ranked power forward in the class of 2012 and will decide soon between Duke, N.C. State, Kentucky and Villanova.
And Sulaimon is working hard to ensure that he will not be the only member of the Blue Devils’ 2012 recruiting class.
“I talk to Amile Jefferson. I’m going to try my hardest to try and get him to come to Durham,” Sulaimon said. “I’m still talking to Parker too. It’s not over yet according to him.”
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