Cooper Barkate navigates a whirlwind transfer, reuniting with his quarterback amidst lawsuit drama, ready to chase a championship with the Miami Hurricanes.
As spring training officially opened, the Miami Hurricanes will have opportunities to acclimate new talent, including All-ACC wide receiver Cooper Barkate. The 23-year-old is coming off a career season with the Duke Blue Devils: catching 72 passes for 1,106 yards, scoring seven touchdowns in 14 games. After being All-ACC quarterback Darian Mensah’s top target, he’s expected to take a backseat behind homegrown star wide receiver Malachi Toney.
Barkate played a pivotal role in the Blue Devils’ chase towards an ACC Football Championship, the first since 1989. After entering the transfer portal during the offseason, the California native joins the Hurricanes, coming off a National Championship appearance. However, the journey wasn’t as easy. Barkate departed from the Durham, North Carolina-based university at the same time as Mensah, who was facing a lawsuit by the program. Before reaching court, both sides agreed on a settlement.
The redshirt senior shared his point of view on the transfer portal experience on Mensah’s YouTube vlog.
“It was kind of crazy because that one happened really quick,” he said. “It happened at the very end of the [transfer] portal window. We were at Duke, and then, one day later, we decided we were going to make the move. Three days later, we were down in Miami for the visit. He was getting sued and there was a whole settlement issue. That resolved itself a couple of days later. We were already down [in Miami], we didn’t even go back up. It was crazy. It happened in an instant, but [I’m] glad it did. Another year with my guy.”
The Hurricanes revamped the wide receiver core around Toney and Barkate with a couple more transfer portal additions in Vandrevius Jacobs and Cam Vaughn. Also, Daylyn Upshaw and Joshua Moore are projected to earn expanded roles, both coming off limited freshmen seasons.
Toney and Barkate were two of four players to lead the ACC in receiving yards, both with 1,000-plus each. Also, they were in the top two in total touchdowns.
The Hurricanes’ offense is expected to make a jump next season with all the talent and new depth on the roster.
Barkate is a speedy and shifty receiver who can create space and get past defenders. The number of targets will likely be different on the Hurricanes, but he will have opportunities to finish impactful plays. He’s poised for another All-ACC season, competing for the biggest reward in college football, a National Championship.
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