Duke men's basketball 2020-21 player review: Jordan Goldwire

As Duke men's basketball wraps up its season, the Blue Zone gives individual breakdowns of each player's season with comparisons to their preseason projections. Read the previous player breakdowns here: Mike Buckmire, Patrick Tapé, Jaemyn Brakefield, Henry Coleman III, Joey Baker, Jeremy Roach and Wendell Moore Jr.

Jordan Goldwire

• Year: Senior
• Height: 6-foot-2
• Position: Guard
• This year’s stat line: 5.8 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 4.0 APG, 28.5 MPG
• The Blue Zone’s projected stat line:  5.3 PPG, 3.1 APG, 25.2 MPG

Season breakdown: Jordan Goldwire’s senior (and final) year playing for the Blue Devils was one true Duke fans will remember for a long time. Goldwire stood out as a leader for this season’s young team and continued to be remarkable on defense despite the team’s overall lackluster performance and final result. The senior guard was named to the ACC All-Defensive Team, the only Blue Devil to earn the accolade this season.

Goldwire averaged the second-most steals per game in the ACC, finishing with a 2.2 average for the season that places him ninth in Blue Devil history. In 20 of his 24 games played, he had two or more steals, and tied his season-high in steals against Virginia Feb. 20, with four in a single game. 

But his ability to steal and shift the court was not the only remarkable trait he had this season. He also led the league with his assist to turnover ratio of +2.82 and in the last nine games of the regular season, he had over four assists in each contest, with his court vision being critical to the team’s successes. 

Beyond the stats, Goldwire was able to shine his senior year when it came to energy on and off the court and despite a disappointing end to his senior year, he certainly made the best of it. 

Results relative to expectations: Unsurprisingly, Goldwire continued to improve his stats from the previous year, where he averaged 4.7 points and 2.5 rebounds per game across 24.1 minutes per game. In 2021, he slightly exceeded the Blue Zone’s expectations for points, and soundly exceeded the Blue Zone’s expectations for minutes per game, a testament to head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s faith in Goldwire’s ability to lead the team on the court this season. As expected, Goldwire split starts with freshman guard Jeremy Roach. The Norcross, Ga., native also significantly improved his number of steals per game compared to last season’s 1.52 average. Just as he has done in previous years, Goldwire also developed his game throughout the season and emerged on the other side a much better player than the one who entered.