@thesportsontap: In January of 2021, Notre Dame offered a scholarship to a high school junior in Orange County, California. Nineteen schools offered him in all. Oregon. UCLA, where his father had played. He turned down all nineteen. His name is Cooper Barkate. He went to Harvard. "A place like Harvard, it really makes you love learning," he said. Three seasons in Cambridge came to 113 catches, 1,742 yards and 14 touchdowns, and he made first team All-Ivy as a junior. Then he moved up a level and did it again. Duke, 2025, 14 starts, 1,106 yards, second team All-ACC. He caught five passes in the ACC Championship Game, which Duke won in overtime. In January he entered the portal and followed Darian Mensah, the quarterback who had been throwing him the ball at Duke. They looked at Miami together and both of them signed. "He's my best friend, so it's been great," Barkate said. So he is 23 years old, on his third school, with 189 catches and 2,915 yards behind him, and until this week he was the second option in his own offense. Malachi Toney has been the story in Coral Gables. 73 catches, 1,027 yards, 13 touchdowns, and he is 19. Toney hurt the ankle in Wednesday's practice. ESPN reported that night that he needs surgery and will miss Saturday. Which leaves Barkate. 28 catches, 372 yards, four touchdowns, and the first name on the scouting report instead of the second. "I'm just a gritty player, real smart," he said when he got to Miami. "I'm faster than people think." On SATURDAY, Miami plays Notre Dame. They offered him in 2021, back when nobody knew whether he could play at this level. He went to Harvard to find out, and then to Duke, and the answer kept coming back the same. #cfb #CollegeFootball #cfbnews #miamihurricanes #hurricanesfootball

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Thursday 05 November 2026 14:51:50 GMT