Top high school football recruit Julian Jones commits suicide at the age of 16

A high school football player's promising career was tragically cut short yesterday, when he committed suicide.

Julian Jones, the youngest son of former NFL player and Alabama A&M University football coach Anthony Jones, was found dead in their Meridianville, Alabama home Monday moing as the 16-year-old was in the process of choosing which college scholarship to accept.

Friends of the Hazel Green High School student took to Twitter where they expressed complete shock that a young man who had so much going for him would choose to end his life. 

It's still unclear what led the star defensive end to make such a desperate move.

Six-foot-five, 230-pound Jones was ranked as the 16th best player in the state of Alabama and was already juggling scholarship offers from Mississippi and South Carolina. Aubu also expressed an interest in recruiting Jones to their squad. 

And just a few months ago, Hazel Green's football coach Matt Putnam gushed about Jones in an interview with AL.com. 

'He grew up in football,' Putnam said. 'He understands the game really well. He's athletic, big and long. He's 6-5, 6-6. He loves the game; he's a good leader. He'll be a junior next year and he's already taken over pretty big leadership role on the team. He's the kind of kid you wish they all were like.'

On Monday, Putnam had to break the bad news to his team at practice. 

He also tweeted his sympathies to the Jones family on their loss. 

'The entire Trojan Family is devastated by the loss of Julian. Our love, thoughts & prayers go out to his entire family. He will be missed,' Coach Putnam wrote.

Alabama A&M University also issued a statement on the passing of their former coach's youngest son.