University of Alabama offers full-ride scholarship to 8th grade football star though he won't finish high school until 2017



The college football recruiting race is heating up, with talent scouts now looking for stars in middle school.



The University of Alabama has made the bold move of offering a full-ride scholarship to Dylan Moses, who is only in the eighth grade and won't graduate from high school until 2017.



The 14-year-old from Baton Rouge, Louisiana received the offer over the weekend, a surprising move since most prospective players are courted their junior year of high school.



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Recruitment race: The middle school student, pictured left in a Bama jersey this weekend for a training camp at the school, has been offered full scholarships from UA and from LSU



'We got the invitation to come to Alabama's Junior Day a few weeks ago and to be honest we were kind of surprised,' Mr Moses told the local news website.



'They all seemed very interested in Dylan. They treated him like a five-star recruit ... We met with Coach Saban after lunch and he talked to Dylan about his future and what he needed to do to achieve his potential as a student and as a football player.'



'When he said he was offering Dylan a scholarship, we asked a lot of questions just to make sure we knew exactly what he meant. Coach Saban said the Alabama staff believes Dylan has a chance to be the best player in the country in the Class of 2017 and they were ready to offer him a scholarship. That's when the fireworks started going off in our heads.'

He is the youngest recruit to ever receive an offer from Alabama, though the school has previously offered spots to high school freshmen.



The teenager, who is 6ft 1 and weighs 215 lbs, has already received a scholarship offer from Louisiana State University, where Coach Saban led the football program from 1999 to 2004.



Next year when the Baton Rouge native enters high school, he plans to attend the Louisiana State University Laboratory School, located adjacent to the LSU campus.

Let's do this: Alabama coach Nick Saban, pictured in Sept. 2012, is leaving nothing to chance and wants to reserve talent to join the team

Though considerable attention has been paid to the teen athlete, who starred as a running back and linebacker last season, his father said they aren't planning to make a decision anytime soon.



'We aren't putting any pressure on him with the recruiting process right now. I think the fact that this is happening so early for him is helping him mature a little quicker than most 14 year-olds would and I think that's probably a good thing for him.'



'Right now, all Dylan really knows is that LSU and Alabama are his favorites and he's going to spend the next few years focusing on becoming the best player he can be. I don't think he feels any need to rush his decision.'