When Virginia receivers coach Marques Hagans wore the orange and blue uniforms now on the shoulders of his players, he lined up anywhere. Punt returner, receiver, and quarterback were all on the table and he played well in any role with 5,779 yards of total offense and 9.2 yards per punt return topping the list.

This spring, Hagans has a new athlete lining up at receiver. At least part time. Redshirt freshman quarterback De’Vante Cross seemed a little surprised to hear that Hagans had taken a similar path as Hoo, though. When asked if he had asked Hagans questions about the balancing act, he said that he would have to do that soon.

”I haven’t,” Cross said. ”I’ve been talking to Coach Hagans more and more. … I’m just going to ask him how did he balance it and how did he work through it and stuff because there’s different challenges that come with that. I’m pretty sure one day I’m going to ask him.”

Cross came to Virginia as new coach Bronco Mendenhall’s first commitment. A three-star recruit out of Parkland High School in Allentown, Pa., he played three years as a starting quarterback. In his senior season, he threw for 2,947 yards with 26 touchdowns and ran for 1,385 yards with 19 touchdowns. At 6’2” and 210 pounds with some elusiveness and speed, he’s got the tools to do a lot of things for an offense.

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