Inside the commitment: Aden Holloway's outlook

Four-star combo guard Aden Holloway committed to Auburn Aug. 1, becoming the first member of Auburn’s 2023 class.

Holloway is ranked as the No. 39 player on the On3 consensus and as the No. 8 combo guard and the No. 10 player in California.

Holloway—originally from North Carolina—is slated to play for Prolific Prep for his senior year of high school. He spent last season at La Lumiere High School. He also played for Team CP3 in the Nike EYBL circuits, including the Peach Jam.

Auburn’s newest commitment follows the trend of Auburn’s recent point guard recruiting: Undersized and highly skilled. Holloway is a little bigger than other recent point guards, but his handle, speed, and control of the game make him a perfect fit. He’s also one of the best shooters in high school basketball, which never hurts. 

The 411

Holloway, a 6’0″ 155-pound combo guard, was recruited to play point guard at Auburn. He also has the potential to exceed at an off-ball roll.

Holloway averaged 16.0 points, 5.2 assists, and 4.2 rebounds per game for CP3. He also shot 41 percent from the field and 35 percent from three this season. He was named First Team All EYBL at the Louisville regional circuit and Second Team All EYBL at the Peach Jam. 

Holloway rebounded from a slow first game at the EYBL Peach Jam by shooting 6 of 9 from three, 3 of 8 from three, 2 of 5 from three, and 4 of 6 from three in his last four summer league games. He finished 16 of 35 (45.7 percent) from three in the summer’s most prestigious tournament.

During his junior season, Holloway played in 10 NIBC (conference) games for La Lumiere. In those games, he averaged 15.6 points per game on 59.1 percent shooting from the field, 68.2 percent from three (15 of 22) and 87.9 percent free throw shooting.

Recruitment recap

Auburn has long been one of Aden Holloway’s top two schools. He took an official visit in February when Auburn seemed to leave its mark.

Holloway followed up his official visit to Auburn with official visits to Wake Forest and Tennessee. 

Auburn and Tennessee beat out home state school Wake Forest and other suitors, and Auburn eventually sealed the deal.

Remaining Auburn targets such as Wesley Yates have mentioned that Holloway was recruiting him before Holloway made his commitment. Holloway has almost twice as many Instagram followers as any current Auburn player. An early commitment from Holloway could be a hot start for Auburn’s 2023 class.

Baye Fall, Jordan Butler, DJ Wagner, Kwame Evans Jr., and other top players have listed Auburn as a school they are interested in.

Program Fit

Holloway’s size, handle, and speed make him an exceptionally good fit at a program that uses smaller guards as well as any school in college basketball. He should easily exceed his current recruiting rankings during his Auburn career.

Auburn’s newest commitment can be effective at Auburn even if he doesn’t take over as point guard immediately. With Holloway’s shooting, he’ll be a plug and play guy off the ball and will also be a backup point guard option capable of taking over after Wendell Green Jr. Bruce Pearl has played point guards, such as Harper and Zep Jasper, off-ball to better utilize their scoring ability.

Auburn adding a potentially multi-year point guard this season could be a crucial move in the long run. If Holloway is a multi-year guy, he could help bridge the gap between Auburn’s current crop of guards and leading into the next “generation” of backcourt players.

Holloway’s next level shooting

Holloway’s playmaking—and the skills that contribute to it—are the most important part of his game but shooting is the most elite part right now. Holloway doesn’t always post extremely high shooting percentages, but he can catch fire. He can shoot off the dribble or on spot ups, can shoot deep threes and midrange shots, and is effective around the basket with his touch and body control. His handle and IQ lets him get to his spots and create space easily.

Auburn’s newest commitment is one of the best shooters in his class. Especially when you consider his clutch shot making and his ability to shoot contested shots off the dribble or on spot ups at all three levels.

Holloway has a quick release and gets good elevation when shooting. I expect his shooting will translate to the college level as quickly as anything else. He also finishes in traffic and through contact around the rim. Great body control lets Holloway play a lot bigger than he looks, and he’ll remain effective against bigger opponents.

Against top ranked IMG Academy, Holloway sunk a game-winning three in double overtime to take down a loaded prep school team featuring five stars at almost every position.

More recently, Holloway has drawn rave reviews as the best player on a team featuring five-stars Gregory “GG” Jackson and Rob Dillingham. 

He also hit a game winner against Team Why Not in April and a game tying shot against the Oakland Soldiers. 

Aden Holloway’s playmaking is also top tier

Auburn’s newest point guard already has the combination of ball handling, speed, and decision making desired by Bruce Pearl. Aden Holloway gets a lot of comparisons to Sharife Cooper because of his ball handling and passing, but I think Auburn fans will find that comparisons to a bigger version of Jared Harper or Wendell Green Jr. fit the commit better.

Like Green and Harper, Holloway is a great shooter with good range. Holloway does have a tight handle and low center of gravity like Cooper, but he controls games in more of a floor general fashion, compared to Cooper’s ball-dominant creativity. 

Cooper would constantly push with the ball in his hands, probe defenses, and rack up assists and buckets with his insane touch and vision. Holloway can do some of those same things. Still, he’s better an executing half court sets and pushing the ball up court in transition. 

Holloway has great vision and is very efficient in ball screen offense and other forms of set halfcourt offense. He’s patient and posts low turnover numbers everywhere he goes.

With Team CP3, Holloway posted 5.2 assists per game to 1.8 turnovers per game throughout EYBL play. For reference, Cooper averaged 6.4 assists to 3.5 turnovers per game during his final season of EYBL play. That said, Cooper and Holloway posted very similar stats for their final year of EYBL play.

SEC readiness, Areas of improvement  

Adding more strength and athleticism will be key for taking Holloway’s game to the next level. As he does that at Auburn, he should become one of the best college guards in the conference and a pro prospect. It will also let his IQ and decision-making shine on defense. His size and athleticism get in the way at times now.

Still, Holloway will be ready from day one as far as shooting and playing a limited point guard roll goes. I think he’d even be ready to start off ball if needed, although an experienced KD Johnson or Chance Westry could be hard to beat.

Halloway is also likely due to rise in On3’s rankings after one of the best EYBL showings for any point guard.

When Holloway arrives on campus next year, Auburn could have a potential backcourt of:

Wendell Green
KD Johnson
Chance Westry
Tre Donaldson
Aden Holloway
(Other recruits/transfers) 

Aden Holloway’s shooting is one of the first things that stands out when I watch him play. He can create space for his own shots off the dribble and is great at catch and shoots. pic.twitter.com/cMQH9A0kJS

— Jay Phillips (@aubawn) August 2, 2022