Auburn basketball HC Bruce Pearl landed the heir to the small point guard on the Plains throne in Matthews, North Carolina native Aden Holloway — who chose the Tigers over the Tennessee Volunteers. An inverse Julian Phillips if you will.
Holloway is a dynamic point guard from California, which has produced several great point guard talents (Lonzo Ball, LaMelo Ball, Damian Lillard) over the past decade from all over the state. His talents are seen as the perfect fit for Pearl’s offense, which has produced several undersized heroes (Jared Harper, Sharife Cooper) that have gone on to become pro guards.
The Tiger beat is who sees it that way, as well as national pundit Jeff Goodman.
Goodman described the last half-decade of Tiger floor generals in his assessment of Holloway, lauding his playmaking ability and bulldog scoring mentality:
Auburn lands guard Aden Holloway. Was terrific at Peach Jam recently and fits what Bruce Pearl wants out of his point guards. Small, tough, can score and also create for teammates.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) August 2, 2022
Christian Clemente of AuburnUndercover was a big fan of Pearl’s first Class of 2023 recruit, stressing how good of a get it was:
Auburn basketball has its first commitment of the 2023 class, and boy is it a good one.
— Christian Clemente (@CClemente247) August 2, 2022
Aden Holloway, the No. 30 player in the @247Sports Composite, has committed to Auburn. The 4-star PG chose Bruce Pearl's program over Tennessee.
More on https://t.co/yfws5HefSa pic.twitter.com/WdzmRcK9Fo
Nathan King channeled his inner oasis in saying he’s electric:
Auburn’s first 2023 commit is Aden Holloway, an electric guard who seems a perfect fit for a Bruce Pearl squad https://t.co/x2ZVgBdftk pic.twitter.com/hvL3mCO9hR
— Nathan King (@NathanKing247) August 2, 2022
Justin Lee evoked one Sharife Cooper’s name in his praise for the Prolific Prep point guard:
Bruce Pearl has got another big-time prospect.
— Justin Lee (@ByJustinLee) August 2, 2022
Aden Holloway committed to Auburn. He's No. 26 in the ESPN 100 for the class of 2023.
The 6-foot guard agreed his game has "a little bit" of Sharife Cooper in it.https://t.co/7YoDltMN5z
Holloway said that ‘Auburn’s style of play was attractive,’ so there’s as much excitement on the six-footer’s end as their is on the analysts’. Tiger fans should be most excited about Holloway saying this:
"“He makes you want to play for something bigger than yourself.”"
Big things are coming to a program that is getting accustomed to being one of the SEC’s primary contributions to the national college basketball scene.