Notre Dame Making A Strong Push For Two-Way Standout Cooper Barkate
With the start of his junior season just weeks away, Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei athlete Cooper Barkate is anxious to return to the field after an offseason that seemingly would not end. In California, the high school fall football season was postponed due to Covid-19, but Cooper and his Monarch teammates are set to start the 2021 slate on March 19.
When that day arrives, Barkate will be playing wide receiver after starring on both sides of the ball for his previous school, St. Margaret's, over the past two years. And despite an offensively focused year to come, Barkate is receiving interest for his talents at both receiver and safety at the next level.
“I think the two schools that are the biggest proponents of me playing offense and defense would be UCLA and Notre Dame,” Barkate told Irish Breakdown. “Both sides of the staff have talked to me and said they like me. Those are probably the two schools that have talked to me the most about playing on both sides of the ball. It's definitely more of an attraction, but at the same time I'm going to want to pick the school that's best for me all around and not just focus on that one little part.”
Both UCLA and Notre Dame offered the 6-2, 190-pound prospect back in January, and Barkate has since formed a strong relationship with both coaching staffs.
“I probably communicate with Coach [Brian] Polian the most,” Barkate said of Notre Dame. “He's the coach that actually offered me. His pitch, he's the recruiting coordinator, so he talked to me more about safety for them, but Coach [Del] Alexander, the receiver coach, I've also had a little bit of communication with him, and he's obviously talking to me more about receiving and being on the offensive side of it.”
Notre Dame is one of 19 schools to offer Barkate at this point, and the versatile prospect indicated that over half of his scholarships are for his offensive talent. Out of that group, though, the 2022 recruit has had the Fighting Irish on his radar for quite some time. In fact, Barkate has a close relationship with a former ND standout, and that connection helped forge his interest in the prestigious program.
“I have actually been on their campus a couple times,” Barkate mentioned. “My first time was a couple years ago. I went out there with a couple of my friends to watch a lacrosse game of theirs, and we walked around the campus. It wasn't anything recruiting-wise with football. This was when I was in seventh grade, so four years ago.
“My high school coach of the school I went to for my freshman and sophomore year, St. Margaret's, the head coach is Kory Minor, and he's a Notre Dame linebacker legend,” continued Barkate. “So, Notre Dame actually invited me out for their game against Navy two years ago. He encouraged me to go out there and check out the campus and look at the facilities. I went out there, and I watched their game and went through their recruiting tour of their facilities and their whole campus.”
With those two trips under his belt, Barkate has been able to pair his personal experience on Notre Dame's campus with the recruiting pitch that the program's coaching staff has executed. As far as that is concerned, the Irish staff has done a quality job outlining how the school could benefit Barkate both on and off the field.
“I think recruiting pitch-wise, Notre Dame pitches their platform that they have,” Barkate added. “[It's] obviously an outstanding university and a great, historical football team. Last year, obviously they were in the [College Football] Playoff. I think they definitely pitch that point, but also I've been on campus, and it's a great college town and a great environment in general. That is definitely important to me, but I think I'll end up making my decision on not only a great football environment but just a great academic environment as well. I think mainly for me, I'm going to want to pick a school that I'm proud to say I came from and will definitely set me up for the rest of my life.”
While Notre Dame is one of the primary schools that Barkate is considering, UCLA also has been consistently recruiting the California native, and one feather in the Bruins' cap is that his father played for the school when he was in college. As a result, UCLA will provide stiff competition for Notre Dame's pursuit of the 2022 blue chip prospect, but he is looking to visit both locations again before making his commitment.
“Besides Notre Dame and going out there again, I think I'll definitely take a trip out to UCLA and possibly Oregon to see that,” Barkate stated. “On top of the bigger FBS schools, I think I want to take a trip up to the Ivy Leagues and kind of see those schools. I think that would be interesting. I think those are the tops in my mind at the moment.
“For me, it kind of seems like this year has snuck up on me,” Barkate continued. “I realized a couple weeks ago like, 'Wow, it's nearing the end of my junior year.’ Usually people are dropping [top] lists and committing. For a lot of these schools that I like, I haven't really gotten to be on campus and meet the staff and meet the players. Definitely as soon as those things start to open up, I'll be able to start a better relationship with these schools by being on campus and stuff like that. I don't have a real timeline or set date that I want to commit by, but I would assume maybe sometime in the Summer would be my best guess.”
In the meantime, Barkate is focused on the start of his junior campaign. Over the offseason, the Notre Dame recruit has focused mainly on improving his speed, agility and footwork in order to become a more dangerous receiver for Mater Dei this Spring. Since California is not holding state playoffs this season, Mater Dei's final game will be against St. John Bosco, and Barkate is treating that contest as his version of a state final this season.
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