Duke football had already had a lot of success through the winter cycle of the college football transfer portal, cementing On3's #22 ranked transfer class thus far.
As the portal closed at 11:59pm last night, December 28th, Manny Diaz and his staff landed one more last second signing in Harvard transfer receiver Cooper Barkate.
His signing was made official on his and Duke football's instagram accounts around 10:30pm ET last night.
Barkate becomes the second wide receiver to commit to Duke out of the portal alongside Oklahoma transfer Andrel Anthony Jr., who committed to the Blue Devils about a week ago.
The junior receiver out of the Ivy League is a huge late get for Diaz and his staff with the production he put out this past season.
Barkate finished the 2024 season with 63 receptions for 1,084 yards and 11 touchdowns. He averaged 17.2 yards per catch as well, fitting in perfectly with Duke offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer's air raid type of system on offense.
He's the prime makeup of a deep ball threat which is exactly what Duke needs to replace with Jordan Moore and Eli Pancol both being out of eligibility once this season is over.
Barkate had over 75 yards receiving in every game this season and had over 100 receiving yards 5 times, but all while only recording double-digit catches in 1 contest.
He was one of three finalists for the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year this past season and was an Associated Press FCS All-American Honorable Mention. Barkate was also named to All-Ivy League First Team in 2024.
In his three seasons with the Crimson, Barkate totaled 113 catches for 1,742 yards and 14 touchdowns. He will have two years of eligibility remaining.
A deep threat at the wide receiver position was one of the biggest holes the Blue Devils still needed to fill despite all the early success that the program has found within the transfer portal. Barkate is a huge last-second addition for the program, and now fans await until after Duke's bowl game versus #14 Ole Miss on January 2nd, as players competing in postseason games have 5 days to enter the portal after their season ends.
This means that any Duke player can enter the transfer portal until 11:59pm on January 7th, even though the portal window is technically closed.