SPOKANE, WASHINGTON — Rasheed Sulaimon has been in this position before, sitting one win shy of a Sweet 16 berth. But this time is different. Not just because the guard is donning red for the Terrapins men’s basketball team instead of Duke blue, but because he understands the magnitude of the opportunity.
As a freshman with the Blue Devils, Sulaimon dropped 21 points in the Round of 32 to oust Doug McDermott and Creighton. The severity of the accomplishment didn’t sink in at first for Sulaimon, though.
“When I was a freshman, I had no fears,” Sulaimon said. “I was a little bit of a reckless youth. I expected us to win. I didn’t really realize the gravity of the situation until after we won and just seeing how everyone was so elated.”
So with the No. 5-seed Terps one victory away from the program’s first Sweet 16 berth since 2003, Sulaimon is dialed in as he tries to prolong his college career. The graduate transfer spoke confidently in the locker room Saturday afternoon just more than 24 hours before the Terps will take the court against No. 13-seed Hawaii.
“We are trying to keep Maryland up to a high standard where it should be,” Sulaimon said. “We understand that we have a talented team and we definitely have the capability to be a Sweet 16 team.”
The Terps had their shot last season against then-No. 5-seed West Virginia, but they let the Mountaineers pull away down the stretch. The players said they overlooked West Virginia, turning their gaze to the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed Kentucky, which loomed in the Sweet 16.
The loss marked the Terps’ fifth straight defeat in the Round of 32. Now a Terps team burdened with preseason national championship expectations is setting out to end that skid.
“We want to make history for ourselves,” forward Robert Carter Jr. said. “We set a goal to win this whole tournament at the beginning of the year, and we think we have a great opportunity to do that. But we got to start with Hawaii.”
For senior forward Jake Layman, the only four-year contributor on the squad, the opportunity holds even more weight. A loss would end his career. A win would mark a historic achievement for the Wrentham, Massachusetts, native who has played in more games for the Terps than anyone but Juan Dixon.
“It would mean a lot,” Layman said. “Me and coach [Mark] Turgeon have been through a lot these past four years, so it would be a great way to kind of get to that point. But I definitely wouldn’t be satisfied with it.”
Sulaimon echoed Layman’s final message. While the Terps maintained they aren’t overlooking the Rainbow Warriors, they have more than a Sweet 16 berth on their minds.
“Even if we are fortunate enough to win, that’s not the end-all be-all,” Sulaimon said. “We have higher aspirations than that, so it’s just another game in the process.”
With other teams around the country punching their ticket for next weekend, Sulaimon grew antsy in the locker room. He wished the Terps were playing Saturday.
But the Terps’ chance to end a 13-year Sweet 16 hiatus won’t come until Sunday, a more-than-likely sleepless night away.
