Tyler Adams has a decision to make that few 18-year-olds could possibly fathom. He can wake up Saturday morning, put on his cap and gown, and join his classmates for a once-in-a-lifetime experience at his high school graduation.

Or he can put on his soccer kit for the Red Bulls that morning, make the 90-minute drive to Harrison and join his teammates for a professional soccer game with 25,000 rabid fans waiting to cheer him on.

Tassels? Or tackles?

Goals achieved? Or goals scored?

What'll it be, kid?

"Having the opportunity to walk across that stage with all the friends that I started elementary school with, to miss something like that is tough," Adams said this week from his house in Wappingers Falls, N.Y. "But I know that I have a path that I want to cement for myself, and that's going to be coming from one of these games like this."

So fear not, Red Bulls fans. Adams will put on a cap and gown on Saturday morning, but that's only so his mother, Melissa, can snap a few photos. His team plays hated rival NYCFC on Saturday, their biggest home game of the season, and the 5-foot-9 midfielder has decided he can't miss that for anything.

His family will attend the commencement ceremony at Roy C. Ketcham High -- his step-brother is also a graduating senior at the school -- and then they'll rush to the nearest sports bar to watch the game. They're not just his relatives, after all. They're his biggest fans.

"None of us want to miss the game either," his mother, Melissa Russo, said with a laugh.

She admits to having some mixed emotions. What mother doesn't want to see her son step on that stage, move the tassel from one side of the mortarboard to the other, then toss it into the air with the rest of his lifelong friends to celebrate the milestone?

Still: She long ago accepted that when it comes to soccer, her son is just different than kids his age. He signed up for a summer camp at the Red Bulls' soccer academy when he was 10, then immersed himself in the team's regional development school with one goal in mind.

"My dreams were always to become a professional soccer player," Adams said. "There was never a time where high school soccer or college soccer was even in the discussion for me."

He fulfilled that goal on March 9, 2015, when he was still just 16, becoming the first player from the program to achieve that distinction. You think shuttling the kids to soccer practice each weekend is a crimp in your schedule? His parents had to make an 87-mile trip to the team's training facility in Whippany several days a week during the season.

Remember: Adams was doing this while still taking classes. His days during this school year began at 6:40 a.m. -- "Zero Period," as it's called -- and continued with assorted electives before he hit the road. He still found time to be a normal teenager when he got home from practice, hanging out at a local mall or cheering on his friends on at their varsity games.

And that hectic schedule was thrown into chaos when his teams traveled to international tournaments. Adams was a big part of USA Soccer feeder team, which reached the quarterfinals of the Under-20 World Cup in South Korea. Losing that game to Venezuela had one benefit: He could return home and attend his senior prom.

"It was a lot of fun," Adams said. "But having practice the next day, I couldn't stay out that late."

He'll begin taking college classes on July 3 through Southern New Hampshire University, a partner with Major League Soccer that allows players to take online classes. That's a promise he made to his mother, who during his early days in the sport wouldn't let him attend practice until he was done with his homework.

But soccer will remain the focus of his life. The World Cup begins in two years, and while Adams would be a long shot to make Bruce Arena's team this time around, he sees another 18-year-old star as his inspiration. Christian Pulisic has emerged as the team's star.

Hey, if one teenager can do it ...

"Obviously, I want to make a living (in soccer), to say the least," he said. "There's so much you can accomplish in the soccer world, and right now I'm focused on having a good season with the Red Bulls. Ultimately, our goal is to win the MLS Cup, and I see no reason why we can't."

He'll be on the field at Red Bull Arena on Saturday, doing everything he can to help move the team closer to that goal. For this soccer prodigy, the decision to skip graduation for the big game was really no decision at all.

Steve Politi may be reached at spoliti@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevePoliti. Find NJ.com on Facebook.