By Kaleb Page

March 5, 2015

Scandals or being in ‘hot water’ so to speak, is nothing new in the world of sports. However, it can come as a surprise when it happens to a player, coach or institution you would believe to be of a higher standard.

A scandal on the horizon, could send major shock waves across not only basketball but the sports world.

Mike Krzyzewski is arguably the most recognized college basketball or even basketball coach in the world. It is much deserved with the great job he has done coaching the U.S. National team and eclipsing the 1,000 win mark in Division I men’s basketball. Another thing that has Krzyzewski in such high regard is they way he molds young men.

Known for getting players to buy in to the system, grow as individuals and ultimately leave as better individuals; Krzyzewski’s image is one that has grown into something nearly untouchable.

This leaves an important question to be asked. Is really anybody immune to having their image or legacy tarnished? We have seen it with coaches before like Joe Paterno, Bobby Petrino, etc., that there is nobody in the sports world (or even real world) that can be immune from a let down or even a moment that tarnishes an image.

Recently Duke dismissed senior guard Rasheed Sulaimon because he was “unable to consistently live up to the standards required to be a member of our program.” A surprising statement made since Krzyzewski has never before dismissed a player or said such a comment.

That happened on Jan. 29, 2015, but just this week there has been rumblings of a bigger story with the dismissal of Sulaimon. The Chronicle, which is Duke’s student newspaper, reported on Monday that two women alleged during separate student retreats in the 2013-14 school year; Sulaimon sexually assaulted them. The story goes on to say that the claims were brought to Duke’s coaching staff and athletic administration attention on March of 2014. Even though those claims were brought there, there was no official police documents filed by the alleged victims.

This story is still gaining its legs but if this grows and the claims are true, what implications could there be for Krzyzewski, the staff and administration? To know these claims were out there and to essentially pass them over would be a huge dark cloud over the Duke basketball program.

Hopefully either way the truth of the matter is found.

However for me this would be sad if another coach that I respect like Krzyzewski hid something important.

Only time will tell, but as they say this is just the tip of the iceberg.