The University of Alabama might have landed its biggest recruit of the year and it has nothing to do with Nick Saban's football team. 

Ronald Nelson, a senior at Houston High School in Memphis, has chosen to accept a full ride to Alabama along with admission into the school's prestigious 'Fellows Experience.'

At a school with more than 36,000 students, you might be wondering why this one is so significant. Well, Nelson had an option that 99.9% of students never enjoy: he could have gone to any of the eight Ivy League schools.

Business Insider has a great story about the decision Nelson had to make with his family when deciding whether to attend an Ivy League school and potentially put a financial strain on the family, or accept the scholarship and stipends to earn his undergraduate degree from Alabama.

His father, Ronald Sr., explained the decision.

"With people being in debt for years and years, it wasn't a burden that Ronald wanted to take on and it wasn't a burden that we wanted to deal with for a number of years after undergraduate," Ronald Sr. told Business Insider. "We can put that money away and spend it on his medical school, or any other graduate school."

Nelson's scholastic credentials are exceptional: a 4.58 weighted GPA, 15 AP courses taken, a 2260 out of 2400 on his SAT, and a 34 out of 36 on his ACT. Along with that, he's president of his senior class, a National Merit Scholar and National Achievement Scholar, and a state-recognized saxophone player.

This fall, another top-ranked football class when arrive on campus, but it just might be an academic recruit that makes the biggest impact on the university.

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