Duke men's basketball 2018-19 player review: Jordan Goldwire

Jordan Goldwire

• Year: Sophomore
• Height: 6-foot-2
• Position: Point Guard
• This year's stat line: 0.9 PPG, 0.7 APG, 0.6 SPG
• The Blue Zone’s projected stat line: 1.0 PPG, 0.9 APG, .321 FG%

Season breakdown: After being relegated to garbage time for the first season and a half of his career, Jordan Goldwire emerged onto the stage against Louisville Feb. 12. The Norcross, Ga., native played a crucial role in the Blue Devils’ 23-point comeback against the Cardinals with a pair of steals and earned Mike Krzyzewski’s trust as a defensive spark down the stretch.

March proved to be the best month of the three-star recruit’s career as he quickly emerged as one of the first players off the bench for Duke. Goldwire followed up a career-high five-point performance against Syracuse in the ACC tournament quarterfinals with domination against North Carolina the following night. With the Blue Devils trailing by as much as 13 early, Goldwire once again provided a defensive spark and worked with Tre Jones to lock down the Tar Heels. The 6-foot-2 guard played a career-high 28 minutes and added a pair of steals as Duke escaped with a 74-73 victory.

Goldwire rose up the rotation entering the NCAA tournament, earning 36 minutes between North Dakota State and Central Florida. He proved to be not only a defensive spark, but contributed on the offensive end. The Norcross, Ga., native drained clutch triples in both matchups, but would earn just three total minutes during the regional weekend as teams began to exploit Jones’ and Goldwire’s weakness—perimeter shooting.

Results relative to expectations: It was expected that Goldwire’s minutes would be limited entering the season with Javin DeLaurier, Jack White and Alex O’Connell all ahead of him off the bench on the depth chart. And after White’s dominant start to the season, it appeared likely that Goldwire would not see any meaningful minutes for another season.

However, that all changed with White and O’Connell struggling mightily on both ends of the floor in the middle of the year. Goldwire’s breakout performance against Louisville made him Krzyzewski’s go-to defensive spark, which helped him climb the depth chart. And if it wasn’t for the return of Jones next season, there would have been a very good case to be made for Goldwire to take over the starting job next fall.

Stay tuned to the Blue Zone for our continuing player reviews. Previous players previewed include Justin Robinson, Joey Baker and Alex' O'Connell.