Alabama can go anywhere in the country to find a quarterback.

For 2017, it decided to visit paradise.

Saint Louis junior lefty Tua Tagovailoa, the highest-rated QB ever to come out of Hawaii, committed to the defending national champion Crimson Tide on Monday.

Tagovailoa, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound dual threat, whittled down 19 Division I offers to a final six of Alabama, Hawaii, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, USC and UCLA before deciding on the top college football program in the country right now.

Alabama has won three of the past five and four of the past seven national championships.

“It was a hard decision, but I chose Alabama because I went there and made so many friends so fast and it was kind of like a connection with the guys who would take me to church with them and take me to bible studies,” Tagovailoa told the Star-Advertiser. “It’s all in my line of how my parents want me to go about doing things.”

Tagovailoa said he had no plans to go beyond the West Coast until Alabama offered him in early March.

He took a visit to SEC country last month, visiting Ole Miss, Auburn and Alabama, where he met legendary head coach Nick Saban.

By the time he was done with his visit, his decision had already been made.

“When you meet (Saban), it’s one of the most amazing opportunities you could ever ask for,” Tagovailoa said. “Not too many kids get that opportunity. Not even kids from Alabama.”

Tagovailoa will be the first player from Hawaii to play for Alabama since place-kicker Peter Kim, a Kaiser High graduate, lettered from 1980 to ’82.

Tagovailoa enters his senior season at Saint Louis with 5,503 passing yards and 57 touchdowns. He will need 2,499 yards to eclipse the state’s career passing record held by another Saint Louis great, Timmy Chang, who went on to play for Hawaii.

Signing day for the class of 2017 isn’t for another nine months, but Tagovailoa hopes to already be at Alabama by then.

He’s planning on taking summer school in order to graduate in December and wanted to make his decision known early to help some of the other schools recruiting him to be their quarterback.

“I wanted to keep a relationship with the coaches who had recruited me … and I felt the need that if I were to make a commitment today, it would make it easier for their recruiting as well,” Tagovailoa said. “You don’t want to ruin relationships by come signing day signing with another school and they don’t sign a quarterback for their class and out of respect I wanted to (make my decision) earlier.”

Tagovailoa is 14-4 as a starter and played in 20 games over two seasons for the Crusaders. In addition to throwing for more than 5,000 yards, he’s rushed for 1,034 yards and 19 TDs.

Tagovailoa led Saint Louis to an ILH championship last season and advanced to the state final before losing to Kahuku.

CRUSADERS QUARTERBACK COMPARISON

Top three career passing leaders at Saint Louis (Timmy Chang holds state record)

TOP HAWAII HIGH SCHOOL RECRUITS FOR 2017

» Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Saint Louis, 6-1, 210. (Alabama)

Offers: Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Auburn, Colorado, Georgia Tech, Hawaii, Louisville, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oregon State, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UCLA, UNLV, USC, Utah, Washington, Washington State

» Isaac Slade-Matautia, LB, Saint Louis, 6-1, 220

Offers: Arizona, Arizona State, Central Florida, Colorado, Hawaii, Nebraska, Washington, Washington State

» Aliki Vimahi, TE/DE, Kahuku, 6-4, 250

Offers: BYU, Colorado, Hawaii, UNLV, Oregon State

» Andrew Aleki, DE/LB, Kamehameha, 6-3, 225

Offers: Air Force, Hawaii, UNLV, San Diego State, Washington State

» Kekaula Kaniho, DB, Kahuku, 6-1, 170

Offers: Colorado, Hawaii, Vanderbilt, Washington State

» Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, DL, Kapolei, 6-4, 260

Offers: Hawaii, Navy, Oregon State, Vanderbilt

» Charles Watson, DB, Leilehua, 6-1, 170

Offers: Fresno State, Hawaii, San Diego State, Washington State