One thing Virginia Tech Head Coach Justin Fuente has preached when it comes to recruiting is the importance of evaluating talent. This tenet of Fuente’s philosophy may be best exemplified by their recruitment of Quincy Patterson.

Patterson plays quarterback for Solorio Academy in Chicago, an area Virginia Tech has historically rarely recruited. However, the coaching staff did their work, and maybe thanks to some help from Solorio football Head Coach Matt Erlenbaugh, they found a potential quarterback of the future.

“I know our offensive coordinator and myself spent a lot of time sending his film around,” Erlenbaugh said. “In the Chicago Public League, you don’t see too many kids going to big-time football. We’ll have a nice handful that go Division I, but it’s not like your Catholic League here in Chicago, where recruits are always going. I know we did send his film over to Virginia Tech, but I don’t know who laid eyes on it or how that all happened. (Brad) Cornelsen called me up one day and said, ‘We’re real interested in this kid. We’d like to come see him.’ They’ve done a real good job recruiting him.”

The Hokies made Patterson a priority at quarterback, even hosting him on an unofficial visit on Feb. 17. Fuente even set aside one day to specifically recruit Patterson, flying out to Chicago to see him.

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