Duke football had a surprising season, winning the ACC Championship. Their hopes of repeating as conference champions have taken a major hit, as Duke has been a loser in the transfer portal. Now, Duke is losing another player to the portal, possibly to a conference rival.
Duke wide receiver Cooper Barkate has entered the transfer portal, and he has been linked to ACC rival Miami, according to Pete Nakos of On3Sports.
Barkate initially committed to Harvard out of high school, joining the team in the 2022 season. In his freshman season, he appeared in four games, bringing in ten receptions for 157 yards, before taking his redshirt season and saving a year of eligibility. He started to break out in his redshirt freshman season in 2023, hauling in 40 balls for 501 yards and three trips to the end zone. The full breakout came in 2024, as the receiver snagged 63 catches for 1,084 yards and 11 scores. This led to Barkate hitting the portal.
Barkate would commit to Duke and lead the team in receiving in 2025. He had 72 receptions for 1,106 yards and seven scores. With his quarterback, Darrian Mensah, also in the portal, Barkate is joining him in leaving the Blue Devils.
Miami is expected to be a major player for Mensah after a judge ruled that Duke cannot block him from entering the transfer portal, although a full ruling about his future eligibility has not been made. With Carson Beck graduating, Miami needs a new signal-caller, and Mensah could be the answer. This has also led to the connection between Barkate and Miami. He had his best season of college football with Mensah throwing him the ball, and he could move to Miami with his quarterback.
Miami should be in contention to make another playoff run, while Duke is likely to regress in 2026.
