Four-and-Done: Jordan Goldwire's Classic College Path
Despite all the attention given to Duke’s one-and-dones, occasionally, the Blue Devils still see a player take the classic path through college. Jordan Goldwire is an example of that, going from a practice player as a freshman to a senior ear where he’s expected to have a major impact on the team.
“J Gold, he came in. I recruited him,” assistant coach Nate James said. “I made a few calls looking for a guard that can really lead the Blue Team (reserves in practice), someone who had the athletic makeup to push the starters in practice and eventually be a solid player in our program.”
Goldwire, who had a huge game in high school against Duke point guard recruit and future one-and-done Trevon Duval, fit the bill.
“Freshman year, we believe Jordan did that, but he was young,” James said. “We had a young group of guys that was inconsistent. We had a lot of long talks before and after practice, watching film to help him get better. The first couple years, he was just okay. I think that one thing about Jordan he is a believer. He does believe in himself. I think a light bulb went off.”
Now, Goldwire is the most experienced recruited player on the roster and a team leader.
“Being in our program, especially a guy who has been in the program three or four years, you really want to see them turn a corner. Jordan’s junior year, coming in as not a highly-touted player, barely scratched the top 100, everyone was like, ‘Where in the world did this guy come from?’ I think he took that as a challenge. He took that as, ‘I’ve got to show everyone I deserve to be here. I’m good enough to wear the uniform.’ He took that type of approach junior year. Not only was he good enough, he helped us win some big-time games.”
