LOUISVILLE, KY – DECEMBER 17: Head coach Dan McHale of the Eastern Kentucky Colonels reacts in the first half of the game against the Louisville Cardinals at KFC YUM! Center on December 17, 2016 in Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville defeated Eastern Kentucky 87-56. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

Things may finally be turning around for the Duke men’s basketball program. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski won a pivotal recruiting battle this week with the surprising addition of point guard Jordan Goldwire. Before Duke got involved in the recruiting efforts, Goldwire was figured to be choosing between Eastern Kentucky, Mercer and Coastal Carolina. It’s about time Duke had something to smile about.

I am being sarcastic, of course, but the point is few people would ever think there was a chance Duke would be in a recruiting battle with a program like Eastern Kentucky, in addition to Mercer and Coastal Carolina. Alas, Duke stepped in with a sales pitch to a three-star point guard in an effort to pad depth on the roster in an age of one-and-done players. Eastern Kentucky head coach Dan McHale definitely didn’t see the day of recruiting head-to-head against Duke coming his way, and why would he?

With no disrespect intended to Eastern Kentucky and McHale, it is not unreasonable to suggest Duke is much more likely to be recruiting a player sought after by Kentucky and Louisville than it would be Eastern Kentucky. But when Duke wants a guy, they’ll make a push to get him, as they did with Goldwire.

As reported by the Lexington Herald-Leader‘s Mark Story, McHale was contacted by a college basketball writer about the recruiting status of Goldwire and was informed he had a 50-50 shot at landing Goldwire against Duke. McHale simply thought he received a text intended for some other coach.

“I said, “Are you sure you sent this to the right coach?’” McHale said. “I thought maybe his contacts were organized alphabetically and he had meant to send (the original text) to Greg McDermott, the Creighton coach. You know, ‘McDermott, McHale,’ are right there together.”

[ESPN writer Jeff Borzello] replied by sending a screen shot of Goldwire’s Crystal Ball page showing, sure enough, Duke and Eastern Kentucky were then tied at 50-50 in the projections.

(Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

Even though Goldwire ended up going somewhere else, you have to imagine how much merely being in a recruiting battle with Duke can help instill some confidence in a coach looking to build something where he currently is. Now McHale can go into a recruit’s home and say he’s recruiting the kind of players Duke wants.

Can’t make it into Duke or get an offer? Have no fear. We recruit the kind of guys Coach K wants in Durham too!

Losing out on Goldwire does mean McHale has some work to do to put his roster together moving forward. Maybe he can pluck a guy targeted by Duke to return the favor.

[Kentucky.com]

About Kevin McGuire

Contributor to Athlon Sports and The Comeback. Previously contributed to NBCSports.com. Host of the Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast. FWAA member and Philadelphia-area resident.