The Oklahoma Sooners head into the 2021 season under new leadership and with a slew of new players. Lon Kruger retired in March, and in steps Porter Moser. Moser accepted the gig and moved on from Loyola-Chicago. Moser’s most successful season at Loyola–Chicago came in 2017–18, with a 32–6 (15–3 Missouri Valley Conference) record, MVC regular season and tournament titles, and appearance in the Final Four as a no. 11 seed. In 2020-2021, Moser led the eighth-seeded Ramblers to the elite eight before losing to Oregon State.
Once he was hired, Moser immediately knew he had to mold the Sooners into the identity he wanted for his program. A tough, gritty, defensive-minded group that gets after teams with ball pressure for a full forty minutes.
With the NCAA granting players an extra year of eligibility due to the challenges of COVID, Moser garnered the nickname “Portal Moser” as he hit the transfer portal hard.
One of his biggest finds? A former Duke player. Duke is without a doubt one of the sport’s titans. Year in and year out, the Blue Devils land top-five recruiting classes heightened by the one-and-done experience. Guys who stick around for multiple years sometimes have no choice but to leave if they want to have more playing time, and that’s what point guard Jordan Goldwire did.
He left Duke and entered the portal in an attempt to get more playing time that may have been hard to come by with a few highly touted freshman guards coming in. Duke will miss him. Still, he offers a lot to this Oklahoma program and will serve as the perfect one-year player as Moser settles down in Norman.
Goldwire comes to Norman after playing 116 games for Duke.
The 6-foot-2 guard from Norcross, GA, averaged 5.8 points, 4.0 assists, 2.1 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game last year at Duke.
Goldwire had a solid year for the Blue Devils despite Duke’s failure to live up to their standards and expectations last season. He was a 2021 All-ACC Defensive team selection.
Due to the offensive talent that has cycled through Durham, NC over the years, Goldwire has always been leaned on to be a defensive specialist and energy guy for those Duke teams. He matured physically and became more confident in what he could do offensively.
That may be why he left Duke as well. Goldwire was never a focal point in the offense, and despite his growth, he was never really an offensive threat for Duke. With the vacancy left by Austin Reaves (Los Angeles Lakers), De’Vion Harmon (transfer to Oregon), and Brady Manek (transfer to UNC), the Sooners need offense. It’s a perfect fit for both team and player.
Goldwire will be a fit nicely next to Elijah Harkless, who was second in the Big 12 in steals last season, coming away with 1.9 per game. One thing that severely cost Goldwire minutes at Duke was his inability to knock down shots and his inconsistency finishing at the rim.
He shot 26% and 12% from three in his first two years at Duke, respectively. In the following two years, he posted 35% and 33% from three. He’s improved there, and hopefully, this spring and summer, he continued to do so as the likely report on him will be that he was not a great shooter. If he’s able to shoot about 33 to 37 percent with increased opportunities, that’ll be a big boost to an Oklahoma team that will be looking for some offense from their transfers.
He can also get Oklahoma into their offense, get in the lane, and make the right decisions by distributing the ball to others. On top of his All-ACC defensive selection, he was tops in the conference in assist to turnover ratio.
Defensively, he is what you want from a lead guard. Coach Mike Krzyzewski deployed Goldwire to pressure the ball full court almost every time he was on the floor, and Goldwire was more than up to the task. At 6 foot 3, Goldwire has the size and strength to guard positions 1-3. He switches well, communicates, and also has very quick and active hands.
Goldwire is far from a superstar, but he’s a good college player in a system that will afford him the chance to become something even more with the right situation and a significant increase in opportunities. He should be a significant part of this team whether he contributes offensively or not because he plays defense as if his life depended on it.
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