Nick Saban has not successfully reeled in a recruit from the state of Hawaii since taking over the Alabama football program full-time prior to the 2008 season, but that could change by the start of next week.

Tua Tagovailoa, a four-star quarterback and the No. 2 dual-threat from the class of 2017, took a trip to Tuscaloosa earlier this month. He had a lot of good things to say about his trip — so much that the Crimson Tide have moved up to No. 1 in his 247Sports crystal ball predictions just a few short days before he makes his decision.

“The Southern hospitality is very great,” Tagovailoa told 247Sports ($). “I want to look at that because that’s where I’m going to be living. You have to look at the community and the people around you. I feel that’s the biggest thing that was there, and the football is always going to be good at Alabama.

“I think the people at Alabama are a lot like the people here, very friendly,” Lee said. “That’s my own experience, being at Alabama and walking to the stadium and everything like that, they were very nice. Some of the best people I met as part of the opposing team.”

In two seasons as the starting quarterback for his high school team, Tagovailoa has completed 350-of-537 (65.2 percent) pass attempts for 5,515 yards, 57 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, adding 1,057 yards and 11 more scores on the ground.

His verbal would be a big relief for Alabama, which lost its quarterback commitment for this class when Jake Fromm flipped his pledge to Georgia earlier this year.

Tagovailoa is expected to announce his decision at 6 p.m. (local time), which would come shortly after 11 p.m. for those who reside on the east coast. He is expected to choose between Alabama, Ole Miss, USC, UCLA, Texas A&M and Hawaii.