8th-Grade Quarterback Harrison Bailey Receives Scholarship Offer from Miami

Harrison Bailey, a quarterback who's currently in the eighth grade, received his first college scholarship offer Tuesday from the University of Miami.  

Travis Durkee of Sporting News passed along word of the extremely early offer. Bailey posted a picture on social media with Hurricanes head coach Mark Richt:

Bailey, who will be part of the 2020 recruiting class, already checks in at an impressive 6'3" and 175 pounds, according to 247Sports.

The rising star in the recruiting world is set to attend Hillgrove High School in Powder Springs, Georgia. Richt coached at Georgia before getting fired after the regular season and quickly jumping at a chance to coach at Miami, where he played quarterback from 1978-1982.

Those connections provide the background for such an early offer. A lot can change over the course of four years, especially if Bailey continues to develop at such a rapid rate, but making the first offer is something Miami can remind him about when his decision day gets closer.

Alan Popadines of Youth1.com passed along comments from Bailey about his experience with Coach Richt: "He said we usually don't offer young bucks like you but you're talented and we think you can handle it. We don't think you'll get a big head and we want to offer you a scholarship."

Although it's still not commonplace, offering young athletes scholarships before the final few years of high school is no longer a novelty.

For example, Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James stated last year that his 10-year-old son, LeBron James Jr., had already received offers from schools.

Being thrust into the spotlight so early certainly puts more pressure on Bailey to match the hype.

He's a talented prospect, and hopefully the intense recruiting process that's about to ensue will not cause him to lose his love for the game in the years ahead.