Cooper Barkate speaks of football like an addiction. His passion echoes through the phone as he describes his love for the game and his mission for improvement. The pandemic, though, forced him to go cold turkey on the thing he most wanted.
After a few weeks, he and some friends may have broken a few rules. They went to a Southern California park during the pandemic and ran routes in an empty grass park. Barkate had been working all offseason on his speed and route-running, and any extra practice was a welcome suggestion. It went great … for like half an hour.
“We used to get the cops called on us for like two or three guys running routes at the park,” Barkate said. “There were just people that lived above park or in the houses next to it or people just walking around. The cops would show up like 15 minutes later and tell us to leave. It was kind of funny.”
Restrictions have loosened since then, which has been extra beneficial for the 6-foot-1, 180-pound Barkate. After his sophomore season, the 2022 recruit transferred from Division I St. Margaret’s High (CA) to Santa Ana Mater Dei. The two schools are separated by just about 25 miles. Talent-wise, it may as well be 1,000.
“Definitely transferring to a school with the big name and a respectable coach who can just pick up the phone and call anyone in the country, the recruiting definitely picked up. College coaches just understand the competition I’m going against is better than at St. Margaret’s.”
One of those schools was Arizona State, who handed the Top-50 California prospect his 12th offer last Tuesday.
The official offer came from ASU wide receivers coach Prentice Gill, who during their first phone conversation gave Barkate the good news. Before that, however, it had been defensive backs coach Chris Hawkins who had the most intel on him.
Barkate said he and the 25-year old Sun Devil coach had several casual conversations for a while and sometimes getting into a dialogue about recruiting.
“It is a little bit different when the coach is in his early-20s and you can talk about the same music, and you can talk about the same movies you’ve watched. It’s a friendlier relationship,” Barkate said of Hawkins. “It has been great to get to know him and kind of be friendly with him.”
Because of his ongoing six-month relationship with Hawkins, Barkate noted that ASU is among the five schools recruiting him the hardest, joining Utah Notre Dame, UCLA and USC. Though the latter three schools haven’t handed him an official offer, Barkate seemed hopeful that one would come in the future.
Even if they do, ASU would still be in a good position because of their ‘Pro Model’ coaching staff.
“That’s a huge factor,” Barkate said. “Not only the structure of their program but the coaching experience they have. I love the game of football and I want to continue to love it throughout college. With that pro-style staff, that’s defiantly going to be in favor of ASU.”
Upon hearing about his ASU offer, a number of Barkate’s friends tried to get in his ear.
“It’s a little bit different than having an offer from all the way across the country where I don’t know anyone who went there. I’ve probably known 20 people who have gone (to ASU) and loved it,” Barkate said. “A lot of them told me congratulations and tried to get me to consider it heavily.”
They’ll have to wait, at least, until Barkate’s junior year finishes up. He said he’ll wait until after this season to make his college decision, the one where he can carve out his most successful future.
“I’m really looking for a school that will set me up for the rest of my life,” Barkate said. “Not only just in athletics but academically and socially. A school that is well-rounded.”
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