Texas Tech basketball: Tech in the mix for Duke transfer

The Texas Tech basketball program is striving to be considered one of the game’s elite programs.  And in order to get to that lofty plateau, the Red Raiders may turn to a transfer from perhaps the most elite college basketball program in the nation.

Friday, Duke transfer Jordan Goldwire’s top six schools were released Kevin Sweeney, a college basketball analyst out of New York.  Also still in the mix are Oregon State, Wichita State, Utah, BYU, and Oklahoma.

A 6-foot-2 guard who averaged 5.8 points, 4.0 assists, and 3.0 rebounds per game this past year, the Georgia native is a graduate transfer who will have only one year of eligibility remaining.

While those numbers are far from awe-inspiring, the 28.5 minutes per game he logged this past season suggest that he could be a nice rotational piece for the Red Raiders.  And of course, that’s something that Mark Adams needs to add given how thin his roster is at the guard position these days.

It certainly sounds like Goldwire is willing to be a role player.  After his departure from Duke, Coach K had some extremely kind words to say about what Goldwire brought to the program over the past four years.

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"“Jordan always embraced his role, and his improvement over the course of his career is a testament to his mentality and competitive spirit. He was outstanding to coach and we wish him all of the best. It was an honor to have Jordan and his family as a part of Duke Basketball and we will miss them,” Krzyzewski said in a release."

Averaging just 5.8 shot attempts per game, Goldwire appears to be more of a distributor who would help the Red Raiders fill their point guard role next season.  That would be quite the departure from Mac McClung, who led Tech in scoring in 2020-21 at 15.5 points per game.  Not your typical point guard, McClung took 12.2 shots per game to get his points, and often, the ball seemed to stop when it got into his hands.

It doesn’t seem like that would be the case with Goldwire.  This past season, he had 17 games with at least four assists.  That included a season-high of 8 against Georgia Tech.

He also had five double-digit scoring games proving that, on occasion, he can be an offensive catalyst by putting the ball in the basket.  In fact, all five of those games came against teams from one of the six major conferences.

While Goldwire is not a star and won’t likely put Tech over the top in the Big 12, he could be a nice piece of the puzzle next season as there is certainly a need for more help at point guard.  So keep this player in mind as Adams continues to put together next season’s roster.