Duke basketball appears to suffer first official exit of offseason

The Duke basketball program appears to have suffered its first official exit of the offseason. 

For the second straight season, the Duke basketball team has begun its offseason in mid-March, and roster movement is already underway.

Many look to the Blue Devils for the top NBA Draft prospects, and their most notable draft-eligible player, Jalen Johnson, bolted from Durham in mid-February to try and preserve his draft stock amid the struggles of the five-time National Champions.

Aside from the five-star recruit, people could make the case that Duke did not have another instant-impact pro on its roster and that all of its players should return for at least another season, but that does not look like it will be the case.

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Jordan Goldwire, the senior defensive point guard for the Blue Devils, posted on Instagram his farewell to Duke after a positive COVID-19 test disqualified the program from the remainder of the ACC Tournament and ended the season for Mike Krzyzewski’s team.

Goldwire’s departure does not come as a surprise considering his social media posts and interviews prior to the final regular-season game at Cameron Indoor Stadium this season.

The pending exit from the Norcross, Georgia native was only hammered home by another Instagram post from Nolan Smith, the Director of Basketball Operations for the Duke basketball program.

The 6-foot-2 guard entered Durham as a three-star recruit and averaged 6.5 and 8.4 minutes, respectively, in his freshman and sophomore seasons before posting 24.1 minutes per game as a junior and 28.5 minutes as a senior.

Goldwire was averaging 5.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 2.3 steals per game before the season was cut short and was named to the ACC All-Defensive Team.

Duke basketball preparing for more departures

More dominoes will be falling in the next couple of weeks in Durham with players leaving the program as all eyes are on sophomore Matthew Hurt.

Hurt entered Duke as a freshman with aspirations of being a lottery pick after one season, but it was quickly made known that he was not physically ready for the college game, never mind the NBA.

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However, the eventual ACC Most Improved Player of the Year spent the offseason in the gym and the weight room, adding muscle and working on his game to average 18.3 points per game.

There are still questions surrounding the defensive game of Matthew Hurt, but there’s no question that his offensive skillset is ready for the next level.

It will surely be another interesting offseason in Durham, North Carolina.