Alabama lands commitment from four-star QB Tua Tagovailoa
This is the power of Alabama.
The Crimson Tide landed a commitment from four-star dual-threat quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on Monday after months, maybe even years, of him having USC as his favorite school.
The Honolulu (Hawaii) St. Louis standout visited Alabama, Auburn and Ole Miss in April and Tagovailoa seemed to absolutely fall in love with the Crimson Tide.
On Monday night, the four-star made it official. He’s headed to Tuscaloosa.
“The hospitality is kind of like Hawaii,” Tagovailoa said during a television interview. “I feel like I’m at home over there. I couldn’t ask for anything better.
“(Visiting Alabama) was an amazing experience. For me to come from Hawaii to Alabama it says a lot about coach Nick Saban’s recruiting to come this far. Coach Saban is a really good guy, a humble man, soft-spoken but the words hit.”
USC and UCLA were considered the major front-runners before Tagovailoa’s SEC swing. He called USC his “dream school” and admitted the Trojans were leading in his recruitment.
Tagovailoa, rated as the third-best dual-threat quarterback and No. 48 overall prospect in the class, also had a close relationship with UCLA assistant Marques Tuiasosopo.
After visiting Tuscaloosa, though, it looked like his recruitment had completely changed.
Tagovailoa’s father, Galu, not only talked up Alabama but made it seem like the Crimson Tide were becoming a legitimate contender in his son’s recruitment after the trip there.
“Everything was great,” Galu Tagovailoa said. “It has been an awesome visit. I didn’t know the South was such a nice place, such an awesome place. It’s been an awesome experience.
“You know how other conferences and other states, they play the sport, football, and you move on to something else? (In the South) they breathe it. It’s like the only football team in the state. We were blown away and amazed. The people are so kind and so nice out here. It reminds us of back home. In fact, I think the people are nicer than back home.”
Auburn and Ole Miss had nice things. UCLA was a contender. USC was the long-time front-runner. But after Tagovailoa’s visit last month and the fact Alabama is the best team in college football, the Crimson Tide got their man.
“It was important for me to make this decision because it gives (Alabama) coaches the ability to recruit,” Tagovailoa said. “I feel it was best for me to make my decision early to give them the opportunity to go out and recruit more guys.”
The top three dual-threat quarterbacks are off the board. All three are from the West but none are committed to Pac-12 schools. Tagovailoa is going to Alabama, Tate Martell is committed to Texas A&M and Dylan McCaffrey is pledged to Michigan.