The Duke Blue Devils are reportedly pursuing an interesting wide receiver in the transfer portal.
The Duke Blue Devils are preparing to play Arizona State in the Sun Bowl on New Year's Eve, but they are also trying to bolster their roster for 2026 in the process.
That's why Duke is reportedly pursuing Missouri State wide receiver Tristian Gardner in the transfer portal, via Mike Roach of 247 Sports.
“A source near Gardner named Penn State, Colorado and Duke as programs expected to be in the race for the productive receiver,” Roach wrote. “Duke has been one of the better schools in the country at evaluating portal talent and making smart additions to the roster to help them compete in the ACC.”
Gardner was a freshman at Missouri State this past season and caught 30 passes for 465 yards and six touchdowns, averaging an impressive 15.5 yards per grab.
Should Duke land Gardner, it would mark the second straight year it bagged an intriguing receiver in the portal. Last year, the Blue Devils poached Cooper Barkate from Harvard and watched as Barkate went on to post a 1,000-yard campaign during his debut season at Durham.
Tristian Gardner (15). Credit: Michael Gulledge/Special to the News-Leader / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images.The 6-foot-2, 180-pound Gardner is a three-star transfer and is the 49th-ranked wide receiver in the portal, via 247 Sports.
Duke is certainly developing into a very respectable football program, and as Roach noted, Manny Diaz and Co. have done a terrific job of acquiring talent via the portal in recent years.
Remember: last year, the Blue Devils also landed quarterback Darian Mensah from Tulane, and Mensah went on to lead the ACC in both passing yards and passing touchdowns.
Mensah has also already revealed his intentions to return to Duke next season, foregoing the NFL Draft and quelling any speculation he could bolt via the transfer portal.
The Blue Devils have gone 8-5 this, capturing an ACC Championship Game victory over Virginia. It marked their first outright conference title since 1962.
Now, Duke will try to put an exclamation point on its eye-opening campaign with a win over Arizona State on Wednesday.
With Clemson falling off and the rest of the ACC looking pedestrian, at best, the Blue Devils actually have a chance to take over the conference here in the foreseeable future.