QB Darian Mensah joins Miami Hurricanes after legal battle with Duke

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Darian Mensah has enrolled at Miami, giving the Hurricanes another standout transfer at quarterback as they come off a season where they went to the national championship game and got into the College Football Playoff for the first time.

Mensah transferred to Miami from Atlantic Coast Conference rival Duke on Tuesday night. Duke had agreed earlier Tuesday to end a legal battle with its now-former quarterback over whether he should be allowed to sign elsewhere.

Duke and Mensah announced they came to that agreement, a few hours before Mensah and his top target with the Blue Devils this past season — wide receiver Cooper Barkate — toured the Miami campus in Coral Gables, Florida.

About 12 hours later, Mensah’s deal with Miami was official.

Mensah is joining his third team in as many years. He threw for 2,723 yards and 22 touchdowns for Tulane in 2024, then had 3,973 passing yards and 34 touchdowns — both best in the ACC — for Duke while leading the Blue Devils to a surprise conference title this past season.

And the Hurricanes are hoping he can keep their run of portal-quarterback success going.

Miami has hit home runs in the past two seasons by going the transfer route, first with Cam Ward — who played his way into becoming the No. 1 pick in last year’s NFL draft — leading the Hurricanes to a 10-win season in 2024, then this past season with Carson Beck guiding the team to its first national championship game in nearly a quarter-century.

The Hurricanes return a slew of offensive firepower from the national runner-up team, including star wide receiver Malachi Toney — the nation’s top freshman this past season — along with running backs Mark Fletcher Jr., Marty Brown and Girard Pringle, and tight end Elija Lofton.

Barkate would add even more to that already-loaded mix. He has 185 catches for 2,848 yards and 21 touchdowns in his college career, which includes three years at Harvard — he has an economics degree from there — and then this past season at Duke.

Duke plays at Miami this coming season, visiting on Nov. 14. The Blue Devils are coached by Manny Diaz, who coached Miami from 2019 through 2021. He was replaced in Coral Gables by Miami alum Mario Cristobal, who led the team to a school-record 13 wins this past season and its first instance of back-to-back 10-win seasons since a four-year run of those from 2000 through 2003.

Miami opens the 2026 season at Stanford on Sept. 4.

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