Is Javonte Bagley the next Harry Douglas?

Javonte Bagley threw up during his first official practice with Louisville football. He slipped coming out of a break, too. The next day, his position coach, Lamar Thomas, was all over him for missed blocks and other miscues.

But the freshman receiver's name keeps coming up when Louisville coach Bobby Petrino talks about the young players on his team, and Tuesday's post-practice press conference was no different.

"He got tired ... but he kept going," Petrino said. "He impressed me with his hands and his route running. He reminds me a lot of a young Harry Douglas, where his lower body is not as strong as it needs to be yet ... but he's going to be fun to watch in the future because he's going to be really good."

Comparing any youngster on his roster to Douglas is high praise from Petrino, who saw the former Cardinals receiver go from a three-star high school prospect (like Bagley) to a second-team AP All-American and a third-round NFL draft pick.

By the time he was a senior at U of L, Douglas was a first-team all-conference pick. He still holds the program record for receiving yards in a game -- 223 vs. Kentucky in 2007 -- and receiving yards in a season -- 1,265 in 2006.

"He's a great player," Bagley said. "That's nice that (Petrino) compared me to him."

You won't get much else out of Bagley, who answers each question with an average of two or three sentences. That's just how he is.

His high school in Vero Beach, a sleepy oceanside town about two hours from West Palm Beach, Fla., up the east coast of the state, doesn't attract a ton of media attention. Certainly nothing like the 10 or so cameras in his face on Wednesday morning.

But everything about football is new to Bagley.

He only played two years of organized football at Vero Beach. He was a basketball-first kid, with a 6-foot-3, 187-pound frame. Still, his natural athletic ability helped him grab 59 passes for 999 yards and 13 touchdowns over those two years.

In his third year of football, Bagley said he'd like gain eight pounds and play at 195 pounds. His march toward that ideal playing weight has already started.

Even with that ongoing process, his progress on the field is undeniable. Same goes for his chemistry with freshman quarterback Reggie Bonnafon, who said Bagley's "his partner."

"We just clicked as soon as we got here together," Bagley said. "He's been like my brother ever since."

His emergence among the newcomers helps ease some of the concern that might come with Louisville losing senior receivers DeVante Parker, Kai De La Cruz, Eli Rogers, Michaelee Harris and Matt Milton after this season. With his size and potential, he'd fit in well alongside James Quick and Texas A&M transfer Ja'Quay Williams, another pair of rangy, long receivers.

Will he play as a freshman?

"I hope," he said. "I just have to put in work every day."

That'd be a quicker jump into the fray than Douglas, who redshirted his freshman year. That probably won't stop the comparisons from Petrino, though.

Email U of L beat writer Jeff Greer at jgreer@courier-journal.com and follow him on Twitter (@jeffgreer_cj).