Rasheed Sulaimon doesn’t have to hide his true feelings anymore. He experienced the passion of Maryland fans as a freshman at Duke, when the No. 2 Blue Devils lost to the Terps in College Park, and now he feels free to compare the two fan bases indirectly.

Sulaimon can't help but smile now that he's at Maryland.

“Now I’m on this side I can officially say it, but they’re the best fans in the world,” Sulaimon proclaimed after Maryland’s 75-71 win over Georgetown.

Sulaimon finished with 10 points and seven assists against the Hoyas -- including a go-ahead three with just over a minute to go -- feeding off the crowd, which unlike previous years was in his corner. When Maryland fell down 9-0 to begin the game, he delivered the spark with his play, and when the Terps trailed late, it was the fans that pushed him in the final minutes.

Maryland wouldn’t have won the game without Sulaimon, and Sulaimon insisted he wouldn’t have been able to come through down the stretch if it wasn’t for the fans.

“The atmosphere out there was crazy and we needed every bit of it,” Sulaimon said. “At times we had our ups and downs in the game, but they kind of carried us through it.”

Through two games, it seems like the perfect marriage. Sulaimon needed to find a good situation to complete his college career after being dismissed from Duke, and the Terps needed a battle-tested competitor to navigate them through a season of high expectations. So far, he’s provided leadership off the court and endless energy on it.

When Sulaimon played at the Xfinity Center as a freshman, he remembered how much the fans clad in red hated him. He remembered the atmosphere, how hectic and crazy it was, and he remembered the pride the fans had in the program’s tradition.

He didn’t want to say it then -- not when he was still playing his home games in front of the Cameron Crazies -- but he can say it now.

“I’m definitely glad to have them on my side now,” he said.