Brown: Louisville football's Jamari Thrash is poised to break hearts in Atlanta — again

When wide receiver Jamari Thrash returns to Atlanta on Friday for Louisville's season opener against Georgia Tech, he'll be playing in the city where he made a name for himself at Georgia State and less than an hour away from his high school in Troup County.

He won’t exactly be embraced in Mercedes-Benz Stadium like it’s homecoming, though. These days, they don’t want to see Thrash.

For the Panthers, he's like the good one who got away. For the Yellow Jackets, he's the one they could have had before he made it big.

And in U of L coach Jeff Brohm’s offensive scheme and as one of quarterback Jack Plummer's top targets, Thrash is going remind them both over and over again.

Offensive coordinator Brian Brohm said Thrash will play the ‘Z’ receiver in the system, a position that has led to some big years for the former Purdue players.

David Bell had two 1,000-yard seasons for the Boilermakers, including 93 receptions for 1,286 yards in 2021 — and his other season was shortened by COVID-19. Bell either led the Big Ten in catches or finished second in each of his three seasons before being taken by Cleveland Browns in the third round of the 2022 NFL draft.

Charlie Jones topped Bell’s totals last season, with 110 receptions for 1,361 receiving yards, a single-season record at Purdue. And before that breakout, Jones was primarily known as a return specialist before transferring from Iowa.

It was Brohm’s system that helped Jones be great. Thrash might not need as much of a boost.

He’s already shown he can be a leading receiver with through his production at Georgia State. That’s why, by most accounts, he was the highest-ranked player to join U of L’s class through the transfer portal.

Thrash needed a bigger platform to perform and wanted to play for a program that had a chance to win. He’ll have both at U of L.

The 6-foot, 180-pound receiver still has two years of eligibility remaining thanks to the COVID waiver and he's going to make both teams in Atlanta regret letting him out of the state, for very different reasons.

Thrash was so “quiet” in high school that Georgia State coach Shawn Elliott had initial doubts he possessed the kind of competitive juices needed to thrive in Division I football.

Thrash redshirted in 2019 before playing for the Panthers in the past three seasons. He became a starter as a sophomore and blossomed in 2022, finishing the season as a first-team all-Sun Belt selection. His 1,122 receiving yards were the second-most in school history and ranked No. 13 among all of the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision.

But when I reached out to GSU to attempt to get comment from his former position coach, program officials politely declined.

They love the kid. They wish him well. They just don’t have anything to say. And that makes sense, as the Panthers had almost a dozen former players transfer to Power Five schools.

Georgia Tech isn’t jaded that a homegrown talent got away. The Yellow Jackets let him.

They knew enough about Thrash’s talents in high school to reach out. They were the only Power Five school that showed him interest out of Troup County High School.

But their attention never rose to the point of offering him a scholarship.

Once Thrash entered the transfer portal after last season, his decision came so swiftly, Georgia Tech probably couldn’t have gotten in the mix even if he was its top priority.

Thrash only visited Auburn, which is also less than an hour away from home, and U of L before his infatuation with coach Brohm’s offense led him to the Cardinals.

It’s where he calls home now. And with the targets he’s due to receive, there’s no other place Thrash would rather be.

Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on Twitter at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his column.

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This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville football: Jamari Thrash can show Georgia Tech what it missed