TrojanSports.com hit the phones recently and spoke to sources close to the recruitment of Tua Tagovailoa.
The product of St. Louis HS in Honolulu, Hawaii. is still committed to Alabama but a visit to USC is in the works. It just hasn’t yet been scheduled. St. Louis HS head football coach Cal Lee told us that he expects Tagovailoa to schedule his visits after the football season. He says that the 6-foot-1, 185-pound quarterback is currently focused on school and his final high school season.
From there, TrojanSports.com spoke to another source close to Tagovailoa’s recruitment about the chances USC has to eventually sign the four-star Rivals100 prospect.
“I think USC has a chance if they keep the contact going,” the source close to Tagovailoa said. “You never know what can happen.”
When asked where he believed Tagovailoa would end up if he did de-commit from Alabama, the source choice USC.
“Just my opinion but I think if he de-committed (from Alabama) he would pick USC,” the source said.
He just isn’t sure how to handicap the chances of that happening.
“Anything’s possible,” the source said. “He is committed to Alabama but I’ve seen things change at the last minute in the waning moments so you never know. And I think USC is another school he’s considering. I know they were at the top of that list. Alabama just kind of took me by surprise. It really did, I thought he was a USC guy all the way. But you never know, you know, you never know. I’d say just don’t give up hope and I’m sure Coach Clay (Helton) and their staff, I think they see the same picture.”
This person wasn’t the only one surprised by the commitment to the Crimson Tide. He says people close to Tagovailoa are telling him to be certain he can live in Alabama for the next four to five years before signing. The source also says people around Tagovailoa have brought up Alabama’s conservative offense as being potentially incompatible with his skill set. USC’s connection to the Polynesian community is also apparently continuing to influence Tagovailoa heavily.
But Alabama is still the choice for now. This source said Tagovailoa feels that Alabama is the perfect fit to get him to the NFL. He also said that Tagovailoa’s father will have a major influence on this decision and that right now, his father prefers Alabama.
But Tagovailoa didn’t just pick the defending national champions over USC because of his father and football. He has his own reasons for choosing the Crimson Tide.
“He said he liked the people there,” the source said. “Everyone goes to church there and that made him feel at home.”
This source also says that since his commitment to Alabama, Tagovailoa now intends to graduate high school early and enroll in college for spring football. That might actually work out in USC’s favor if the Trojans do secure a visit from him after his football season. USC has a long history of flipping committed prospects on visits near a signing period. In fact, the Trojans did just that with a Hawaii native in the 2016 class, as Vavae Malepeai visited USC just before he signed and flipped his commitment from Oregon to the Trojans.
Here is a link to Tua Tagovailoa’s Rivals.com profile: https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/5165
