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Duke football’s Andrel Anthony and Cooper Barkate on transferring to the Blue Devils
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- Duke football’s Andrel Anthony and Cooper Barkate on transferring to the Blue Devils
Expect a new look from Duke football 's offense in 2025.
Perhaps the biggest change on the Blue Devils ' offensive side is transfer quarterback Darian Mensah from Tulane. But Mensah isn't the only newcomer reshaping the offense, as Duke also added two wide receivers from the transfer portal: Andrel Anthony ( Oklahoma ) and Cooper Barkate ( Harvard ).
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Anthony and Barkate enter a Blue Devils receiver room that lost its top two producers from 2024 in Jordan Moore and Eli Pancol. Duke returns Sahmir Hagans and Que'Sean Brown, along with redshirt freshmen Chase Tyler and Jayden Moore , while bringing in four true freshmen to join the portal additions.
Both Anthony and Barkate announced their transfers to Duke in December, but Barkate did not join the Blue Devils until this summer after graduation from Harvard.
Anthony, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound wideout from Lansing, Michigan, spent two years at Michigan before another two at Oklahoma. He has six starts in 33 career games with 47 receptions for 761 yards. He has one year of eligibility remaining with the Blue Devils.
"Coach Diaz, I could tell he really believed in me, and that's really important obviously from a head coach," Anthony said during a media availability on Tuesday, Aug. 5. "Coach (Jonathan) Brewer, his philosophy and the way he runs his offense, it really reminded me of coach Lebby when I went to Oklahoma. They have a very similar philosophy: spread and just allow the receivers to make plays ... And obviously Darian, you have a great quarterback, somebody that's going to throw you the ball. It was just overall a really good opportunity."
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Anthony suffered a torn ACL in Oklahoma's 2023 contest vs. Texas , being unable to make it back on the field much in 2024. Heading into this season, though, he is ready.
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"I've definitely matured a lot throughout this past year," Anthony said. "That has really propelled me to want to go harder."
Barkate, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound Newport Beach, California native, is coming off a 2024 season that saw him finish with the most receiving yards of any FCS player – 1,084 receiving yards with 11 touchdowns. Across his three-year career at Harvard, Barkate made 19 starts in 23 career games with 113 receptions for 1,742 yards and 14 touchdowns. He has two years of eligibility remaining.
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"In my mind there was two prongs: one if the football aspect obviously with the two leading receivers leaving from last year, there's a big opening in the receiver room, so it was a pretty good situation for me coming in," Barkate said. "Also with the addition of Darian, one of the top quarterbacks in the portal, there weren't more better options to come in and play and also have a good scheme around you than Duke."
A week into fall camp, Barkate described Duke's offense as a "newly meshing passing offense," but one that is coming together nicely.
"The more times we play together, the more chemistry we build," Barkate said. "But I'd say we hit it off pretty instantaneously."
Duke will open its 2025 season on Thursday, Aug. 28, hosting Elon at Wallace Wade Stadium. The Blue Devils are coming off a 9-4 finish in 2024 with a bowl appearance.
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Anna Snyder covers Duke for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at asnyder@gannett.com or follow her @annaesnydr on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Duke football: Why Andrel Anthony and Cooper Barkate joined Blue Devils
