South Carolina football recruiting profiles: AJ Holloway
South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer and his coaching staff have about two weeks before National Signing Day. (Remember when recruits signed in February?) The Early Signing Period begins Wednesday, December 4th, and the majority of teams’ high school recruiting classes will be completed by the time the Early Signing Period ends on Friday, December 6th. In the weeks leading up to NSD, GamecockCentral will profile each player in the 2025 recruiting class. Today, we will look at defensive back AJ Holloway.
AJ Holloway (3-star, Linebacker, 6’3″, 225 pounds)
What the rankings say: 3-star in On3 industry rankings, No. 978 nationally, No. 111 in Georgia, No. 105 among all linebackers; AJ Holloway is a consensus 3-star prospect
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AJ Holloway looks like a linebacker. Already listed at 6’3″ and 225 pounds, the Buford, Georgia product is a big, physical football player who likes to play downhill and make strong tackles.
On film, it is clear that Holloway loves to stop the run. In obvious run situations, he is a battering ram. He makes tackles or clears out blockers with aggressive run fits. When the play goes away from him, he takes solid pursuit angles, as well. Despite not possessing elite speed, he plays sideline-to-sideline thanks to good instincts and football IQ.
Stylistically, Holloway’s game looks a lot like current South Carolina linebacker Debo Williams. Perhaps with a little less reckless abandon regarding his own body, Holloway also throws his weight around well and has no problem mixing it up at the point of attack.
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Holloway likely will need some time to develop his body (like the majority of high school prospects), but if things go well for him, he could become a major thumper who racks up tackles in the box. With that potential, it is clear why he boasted other scholarship offers from major programs like Texas, LSU, Tennessee, North Carolina, Auburn, Louisville, Colorado, and others.
There are at least three South Carolina linebackers leaving the program this offseason via graduation. Because of that, there will be plenty of playing time up for grabs next offseason at the position. Holloway will battle with several other young ‘backers for some of those snaps.
Holloway is one of three Peach State defenders committed to the South Carolina football program in the ’25 cycle. EDGE Kobby Sakyi-Prah and safety Chris Hatfield are the other two. Holloway also is one of five incoming freshmen who will start their Gamecock careers at linebacker.
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You can watch some of Holloway’s film below.
