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Like just about everyone else, we have no idea if there is any truth to the allegations of sexual assault swirling around Rasheed Sulaimon. Realistically, only a few people can positively know the truth of that situation, possibly as few as three, and presumably Sulaimon himself denies that anything like that happened.
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What we do know is this: 1) no physical evidence has been reported, 2) no charges have been filed with the university or police, 3) Duke has said that Coach K and the basketball staff handled the situation according to University procedure, 4) Coach K has been instructed by his superiors not to discuss the situation publicly and 5) according to his attorney, Sulaimon is not currently being investigated by the university. There was an investigation last year which was closed.
We've been dismayed by the headlines suggesting that Coach K "knew" about the allegations and "did nothing." He appears to have followed the university's procedures to the letter. Duke could not substantiate the charges. What, then, do you do? The idea that he "knew" and "did nothing" is lazy journalism and assumes guilt, again, wholly without evidence.
Victims of sex crimes are in a very different category than most victims, and we think most people understand why, but that still doesn't mean that those who are accused of such crimes are presumed guilty solely on the basis of an anonymous second-hand account, which is what the Chronicle reported.
Sulaimon has been accused of having a bad attitude and arguing with his coaches. In the basketball world, those are serious offenses, but for the rest of us, it's just life. Being a bad teammate doesn't make you a bad person. Other than this, we never heard anyone say a bad word about Sulaimon away from the gym.
That doesn't mean that he's a boy scout or that the allegations are necessarily false. It just means there's no way to prove them and barring that, like any other citizen, Sulaimon doesn't deserve to live under a cloud of unsubstantiated charges.
If and when that changes, it'll be time to revisit the situation.