Cooper Barkate enters transfer portal
Duke’s top receiver followed its quarterback into the transfer portal.
Cooper Barkate was entered into the portal late Wednesday night. The deadline is recognized as Friday, but that’s only for athletes to request entry from the school to enter the portal. Schools then have two business days to file paperwork and enter the player, and Monday was a national holiday (Martin Luther King Jr. Day).
Barkate spent one season at Duke and became the program’s first 1,000-yard receiver since Jamison Crowder in 2014. He led the Blue Devils with 72 catches for 1,106 yards and seven touchdowns.
The 6-1, 195-pounder joined the Blue Devils after spending three years at Harvard. He graduated in that time and came to Duke with two seasons of eligibility remaining.
Barkate is expected to follow quarterback Darian Mensah to Miami.
Barkate’s departure means Duke is losing its top five wide receivers from last season. Que’Sean Brown transferred to Virginia Tech; Chase Tyler transferred to Wake Forest; Sahmir Hagans and Andrel Anthony exhausted their eligibility.
Duke has signed two receivers from the transfer portal — Jared Richardson (Penn) and Javen Nicholas (Charlotte).
