There was a party waiting on him back at the fancy hotel in Honolulu. Instead, Tua Tagovailoa went to a Bible study at his uncle's church.

Alabama's latest signing class of football recruits is, yet again, projected to be the best in college football, and among the headliners is a left-handed, dual-threat quarterback who wants to lead his teammates on the field on Saturday, and then lead them to church on Sunday. In Hawaii, they like to call Tagovailoa the next Marcus Mariota, but in the SEC he'll be compared to another Heisman-winning quarterback, Tim Tebow.

A physical, five-star prospect who already is enrolled and taking classes at Alabama, the Tebow of Hawaii was back in the Aloha State last weekend for one last celebration of his high school career. Despite not being able to play in the game because of an NCAA restriction, Tagovailoa flew home last Thursday for the inaugural Polynesian Bowl, a high school all-star game similar to the Army All-American Bowl.

But first things first. Tua stopped by his uncle's church in Ewa Beach before enjoying the bowl's festivities.

"I was so surprised to see him at our youth Bible gathering," said Tuli Amosa, who is Tua's uncle and pastor, "but that's just who he is. You can tell where his thoughts are at, and he is like 10 years ahead of his age right now, which is an awesome thing."

A natural-born leader who takes after his parents -- father Galu is the oldest of nine siblings and mother Diane is the oldest of 10 -- Tua grew up the oldest of four brothers and sisters amid an enormous and deeply religious family. God, family and football are the three pillars of life for Alabama's new quarterback, and it was those values that have made it so easy for Tagovailoa to feel at home in Alabama, according to those closest to him.

Last year, Tua told his uncle and aunt that he wanted to build them a bigger church once he made it the NFL. He picked Alabama to help get him there.

A devout evangelical Christian, Tagovailoa toured Church of the Highlands in Tuscaloosa during his official visit to Alabama, and fell in love with the atmosphere. He is now a member of the ever-growing Alabama-based megachurch.

Like Tebow at Florida 11 years ago, Tagovailoa is expected to push Alabama's entrenched starter, Jalen Hurts, for immediate playing time this spring. That's hard to believe considering Hurts just completed one of the best freshman seasons of any starting quarterback in college football history, but that's the state of Alabama football recruiting on the eve of coach Nick Saban's 11th signing class with the team.

Every winter, Saban populates his roster with the best high school players in the country, and then every spring and fall he lets them battle it out for playing time. In 2015, Alabama signed five-star quarterback prospect Blake Barnett. Hurts then enrolled a semester early during the 2016 recruiting cycle, and won the starting job by the second game of the season.

With a freshman quarterback in the starting role, Barnett and backup quarterbacks David Cornwell and Cooper Bateman all transferred away from Alabama. That would be a major problem for any other team, but Saban now has two more highly touted quarterback recruits behind Hurts in the 2017 class.

There's Tagovailoa, who won the prestigious Elite 11 quarterback camp last year, and then there's four-star commitment Mac Jones of Jacksonville, Florida. Jones is expected to sign on National Signing Day, but Saban recently visited the pro-style passer at his high school just to shore up the commitment. Saban landed at Jacksonville Bolles in a helicopter.

CALIFORNIA CONNECTION

Considering the season Alabama's then-freshman quarterback just completed -- Hurts was named SEC Offensive Player of the Year, and was one Clemson drive away from being the hero of the national championship game -- why would a quarterback from this recruiting cycle sign with Alabama?

Like all highly rated quarterbacks out of high school, Tagovailoa is confident in his abilities as a quarterback, but there's something else. New Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian has had his eye on Tagovailoa since 2015.

Alabama assistant Tosh Lupoi was the primary recruiter for Tagovailoa, but Sarkisian first offered Tagovailoa a scholarship when the coach was at Southern Cal. Lupoi was Sarkisian's defensive line coach at Washington, and the two have been reunited on Saban's staff. They're combined recruiting efforts, in addition to a visit by Lane Kiffin along the way, helped steer Tagovailoa to Alabama and away from USC.

USC coach Clay Helton recruited Tagovailoa up until the day he enrolled at Alabama.

Before his junior year of high school, Tagovailoa competed in a rising stars quarterback skills camp at USC. He traded reps with USC commitment Matt Fink, who signed with the Trojans in the spring of 2016.

"I know Sark wanted him from back then," said Vinny Passas, the longtime quarterbacks coach at Honolulu Saint Louis High School.

Passas was Tagovailoa's high school position coach and also helped mold famous Hawaiian quarterbacks Mariota (Oregon), Jeremiah Masoli (Oregon) and Timmy Chang (Hawai'i). Tagovailoa grew up an Oregon fan, but when it came time to pick a school he didn't limit himself to the Pac-12. The stature of the SEC West intrigued him, and a handful of the division's schools began recruiting him. Ole Miss, LSU and Auburn courted Tagovailoa, but a trip to Tuscaloosa won him over.

Alabama's recruiters were mindful of Tagovailoa's spiritual maturity, so the quarterback celebrated Mass with Saban at St. Francis of Assisi on campus. Tagovailoa also visited Church of the Highlands, and that trip left a strong impression. He returned to Hawaii talking more about the church than Alabama football. (There is also a Church of the Highlands campus in Auburn).

"That's what really caught his attention the first time he visited last year," said Tagovailoa's mother, Diane.

Ultimately, Tagovailoa believed Alabama was the program that could best prepare him for the NFL. That challenge now falls to Sarkisian, Alabama's offensive coordinator who has a history of developing quarterbacks. It has been over 40 years since an Alabama quarterback (Richard Todd, 1976, sixth overall) was selected in the first round of the NFL Draft.

"He feels he wants to go to the NFL," said Passas, the legendary high school quarterbacks coach, "that's his ambition. And I think he feels Alabama is a pretty close program to help him get there.

"I told him, no matter where you go, they're going to find you, but that's him. He wants to always be around the best people and challenge himself with the best. That brings out the best in him."

With Hurts the entrenched starter, Tagovailoa is in for a battle. The players are similar in style and maturity. They're both sons of football coaches.

QUARTERBACK COMPETITION

On the island, they're already talking about the quarterback competition at Alabama. That discussion will pick up in Alabama, too, once the state emerges from its post-championship depression. In years Alabama doesn't win a championship, the fog usually blows out of Tuscaloosa on National Signing Day.

Alabama is projected to have the No.1-ranked recruiting class for the seventh year in a row.

California running back Najee Harris, one of the top recruits in the nation, will be the belle of the ball on National Signing Day, but once the hype machine throttles back all the attention will shift to the quarterback competition between Tagovailoa and Hurts. The big question: Why would the No.1 dual-threat quarterback in the Class of 2017 choose a school where the returning starter is an underclassman who led the team to the national championship game as a freshman?

The answer is simple. Alabama's coaches told Tagovailoa he would have a chance to win the job, and he believed them.

"I get a lot of people who tell me that Jalen Hurts is only a freshman, and Tua is going to have to sit for another three years, and in my heart -- and I know that Tua and his family feel the same way -- that Coach Saban will play the best guy and he'll let them compete for the job," Passas said. "Gosh, I've coached hundreds of quarterbacks, and Tua is a special kind of guy where when he's up against competition, his level of play just climbs and just gets better. It's like the sky is the limit for his potential."

Tagovailoa isn't unfamiliar with position battles. As a sophomore in high school, he beat out a rising senior who was coming off an all-state season, according to his coaches.

"His balls never touched the turf in practice, and every throw counted," Passas said.

Tagovailoa had a steady climb as a high school starter. He lost in the championship game of Hawaii's private-school league as a sophomore. The following season, Saint Louis won the private-school title, but lost in the state championship game. Last year, the Crusaders won it all.

Tagovailoa accounted for nine touchdowns in his final private-school championship game, and Saint Louis defeated Kahuku 30-14 in the state championship. During the game, Tagovailoa set the state's all-time passing record (8,158 yards). Kahuku, which defeated Tagovailoa and Saint Louis in the 2015 state championship game, entered the 2016 state championship allowing fewer than six points per game.

Tua delivered a memorable team prayer before the final game of his high school career. More often than not, Tua led his team in prayer at practice and before games, and always included the phrase, "win or lose, always praise God." For the championship game, Tua prayed with his team to "win or win, always praise God." It's a small thing, but something that stuck with Saint Louis linebacker Dylan Toilolo.

"He was already claiming the win," Toilolo said. "It gave us confidence."

Toilolo was one of several Saint Louis football players who attended church in Ewa Beach with the Tagovailoas. Sometimes, as many as 12 players would spend the night with Tua and his family before Sunday's service. Faith, family and football -- it's something of a cliche in Alabama and around the SEC, but that's the Tagovailoa way.

It started with Tua's grandfather, Seu, who was the head deacon of their church.

SPIRITUAL LEADER

The patriarch of a large family, Seu's death in July of 2014 affected Tua deeply. Seu had been there since the beginning, when Tua played flag football as a young child and then later as Tua began developing into a quarterback with Ewa Beach Sabres.

Tua's pastor and uncle, Tuli Amosa, helps organize and coach the Ewa Beach Sabres. Because children of Polynesian heritage often exceed weight class restrictions for traditional Pop Warner leagues, there are prominent youth leagues in Hawaii unique to the islands. The Sabres play in one of the "big boys" leagues, and the football club is rooted in spiritual development. It's there where Tua began honing his skills as a leader.

It carried over to high school, and the family expects it to take shape at Alabama this season.

Tua's mother says that on the night of Seu's funeral her son lost a football game, but came home happy that he had evangelized three players and a coach.

"Of course no one wants to lose a game, but he felt that that right there was victory for them," said Diane Tagovailoa.

Tua could be a spiritual leader for his new team long before he is an actual leader on the field. If the recent group of backup quarterbacks at Alabama lacked anything, it was faith. Saint Louis head coach Cal Lee, a living legend in Hawaii, understands the challenge Alabama will have this spring.

"It's a tough situation for the coaches," said Lee, who is 70 years old and coached at the University of Hawaii with June Jones. "What are they going to do on their offense? I think Tua has got to stay within that system, and that's going to be his biggest challenge. He's coming from a high school where everything was built around him. That's not so much Alabama."

Joseph Goodman is a senior reporter and columnist for Alabama Media Group. He's on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr.