After a highly productive freshman season, Georgia Tech wide receiver Ahmarean Brown received one of the more significant honors that coach Geoff Collins can bestow upon one of his players – a single-digit number.
Brown has the No. 2 jersey in Tech’s updated roster, sharing it with safety Tariq Carpenter. (By NCAA rules, two players can share the same jersey number so long as they don’t play the same position and aren’t on the field at the same time.) Brown wore No. 10 last season as a freshman, when he caught 21 passes for 396 yards, both team highs. His seven touchdown receptions tied the great Calvin Johnson for most touchdown catches by a freshman.
He demonstrated quickness in his route running, the speed to get behind defenses and the ability to track down and win contested passes. He was a favored target of quarterback James Graham.
“I could have a guy in my face, and (if) I know Ahmarean’s one-on-one with a guy, I can just throw it up and I know he’s going to come down with it,” Graham said last season.
He is not the first sophomore to earn the honor. Last season, safety Juanyeh Thomas and cornerbacks Tre Swilling and Tobias Oliver (then a quarterback and wide receiver) wore single-digit jerseys as sophomores. Graham wore No. 4 last season as a redshirt freshman.
Collins awards single-digit jerseys to players he deems to be great leaders and teammates. Last week, he handed out No. 0 to defensive tackle Djimon Brooks while at the same time putting him on scholarship.
Freshman quarterback Jeff Sims will wear No. 10, switching from the No. 17 assigned to him previously.
