CUMBERLAND — Bishop Walsh tight end Quincy Redmon signed a commitment to play football as a preferred non-scholarship student-athlete at West Virginia University Wednesday at Bishop Walsh School. A 6-4, 220-pound senior, Redmon is a two-time first-team Times-News All-Area selection, as a tight end his junior year and a linebacker his senior year. West Virginia is interested in him as a tight end.

“Just ever since I moved here in the sixth grade to Keyser, WVU is all Keyser is,” Redmon said on Wednesday, “and I turned into a fan. Ever since I moved to Keyser it’s been my dream to play for West Virginia.”

Redmon, who suffered an injury to his right knee during his junior basketball season, missed the first two games of the Spartans’ record-setting 9-1 season his senior year, but was still the fifth leading receiver in the area with 10 receptions for 187 yards and two touchdowns in eight games.

His junior season, when the Spartans came back from a 1-9 season to finish 4-4, Redmon was named first-team All-Area end with 26 receptions for 593 yards (22.8 yards per catch) and seven touchdowns.

“Quincy is one of those kids, from the first time I saw him I knew he was going to be special,” said Bishop Walsh coach Mike Allen. “The first time I was involved with him I was actually coaching against him when he was in the eighth grade and he dunked a basketball in the eighth grade.

“On the football field he’s just a terror, at linebacker and at tight end. All you have to do is throw the ball up. He’s a great receiver and he just goes and gets it, not to mention his work ethic and leadership. He was a freshman playing at the varsity level.”

Redmon, who was also recruited by Stetson, Duquesne and Marist, said the opportunity to walk on at West Virginia was too much to pass up.

“(WVU) started (the recruiting process) in the ninth grade and then kind of just fell off,” he said. “My recruiter, Todd Helmick, was giving me options and he called me to ask if I would be interested in being a walk-on, and I said, ‘Yeah, that would be amazing.’ Then we found out WVU would like to have me. It’s been off and on, so now I will go as a preferred walk-on.”

Helmick founded the Queen City Football Foundation, a non-profit, fully-compliant tax-exempt organization to help area student-athletes receive scholarships to college.

“West Virginia is going to like his work ethic,” Allen said, “and his energy level is the highest of any kid I’ve coached or played against. He just brings energy to the field, including the practice field. They’ll see how hard he wants to work and how much he wants it.”

Redmon will also go to the Owings Mills training facility of the Baltimore Ravens Saturday to try out for the Maryland Big 33 team.

“For his size, his strength is being able to do the things he can do,” said Allen. “Offensively, he’s going to run crisp routes and be just as fast as the defensive back. For a quarterback he’s a great target and his hands are incredible.

“Defensively, he has a nose for the football, and if he gets his hands on you, you’re going to go down.”

Redmon is excited that WVU’s interest in him is at tight end.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “That’s what I really want to play. I’ve been guaranteed a spot on the team. They have two tight ends there now, a sophomore and a junior, so we’ll see how it pans out.”

“A lot of people helped Quincy get to this point,” said Allen. “Todd Helmick pushed him. He knew Quincy would go Division I, and not many players from here get to that level. Quincy is very appreciative. The Todd Helmicks of the world deserve a lot of credit for helping these kids get to the next level.

“Eric Beal sent his highlight tape to the Big 33 and I wish him the best of luck there.”

Redmon, who wants to be a state policeman and who will major in criminal justice, says his long-term goal at West Virginia will be “just to play and try to get to a bowl game, then earn my degree.”

In hindsight, he says the rehabilitation he had to go through on his injured knee turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

“It was nerve racking,” he said, “but I put on a lot of good weight in the process. I got strong and everything worked out for the best.”

Redmon said the time he spent with his teammates will remain his finest memories of playing for Bishop Walsh.

“Just the camaraderie,” he said. “Nothing will compare to it. And then my sophomore year when we were 1-9, beating Hancock. This sounds funny, but that was a great day.”

Redmon will join former Mountain Ridge Miner Jarrod Harper, currently a freshman safety, on the Mountaineers’ roster.

“This is all a dream,” said Redmon. “I will work the hardest I’ve ever worked in my life to make sure it will be a dream come true.”

Mike Burke is sports editor of the Cumberland Times-News. Write to him at mburke@timesnews.com