5* CG Aden Holloway signs with AU

[autan 737]

I don't think Aden is 6'-2 but he is still several inches taller than Wendell who is maybe 5'-9 1/2. Who knows? AH may still be growing.

[toddc 13,194]

 

[toddc 13,194]

 

[toddc 13,194]

Let the hype begin baby!

 

[cole256 17,066]

One thing I really like is he already knows how to use his shot as a tool to create space for himself and others. Very few high school players possess this ability so young. 

I'm also excited that he's had games where he may have only scored ten points but his hand print is all over the game.

Also, It doesn't look like he'll just be bottled up and limited to one particular skill set. If I have disliked anything about our program it's that. Hopefully he will introduce players needing to be versatile to play here, at least the guards will need to be.

[Gowebb11 9,321]

31 minutes ago, cole256 said:

Also, It doesn't look like he'll just be bottled up and limited to one particular skill set.

This post made me think of Gus for some reason. 😅

[AURex 1,998]

So he's not a BIG guard, but he's really savvy and really smooth and really knows his own game. So ya know, I trust CBF to pull the best from the portal to build the next great Auburn team.

 

[toddc 13,194]

A shooter

I was talking with someone that has been around some basketball practices this past week and to say that newcomer Aden Holloway has been impressive would be an understatement. He’s a player that has put on some impressive displays since he arrived on campus and recently he made around 80 percent of his shots from behind the three-point line in a shooting workout. Now, those aren’t coming with defenders in his face or after running up and down the court playing defense, but shooting at that high of a clip is a great sign for the newcomer. If he can deliver a deadly stroke from the perimeter to go along with the return of big guys like Johni Broome and Jaylin Williams, it should put Auburn in a good spot next season.
“MMQB Column “

[toddc 13,194]

 

[toddc 13,194]

Bruce Pearl on Auburn freshman Aden Holloway: “He’s special”

Aden Holloway has yet to play a game in college, but he’s already receiving high praise from the man who’s going to coach him.

“He’s special,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said of Holloway on this week’s edition of the College Hoops Today Podcast. “He’s got real gifts.”

A five-star prospect according to the 247Sports Composite, Holloway is in position to be one of the top freshmen in college basketball during the upcoming season.

“Aden has captured the hearts, minds, and souls of our team,” Pearl added regarding the 6-foot Holloway. “They’ve recognized his ability to shoot the ball and elevate his game.”

When asked if Holloway has a chance to join the elite floor generals that have preceded him at Auburn — guys like Jared Harper and Sharife Cooper — as early as next season, Pearl didn’t hesitate.

“He can shoot it better than all of them,” Pearl said. “He’s got great range and great intangibles. Sharife (Cooper) was probably more of a dynamic playmaker and obviously had a great freshman year. Jared (Harper) was a three-year guy that won championships here at Auburn and Aden (Holloway) is much younger. But yes, he does have the makings of a great point guard. And we’ve specialized in undersized guys here — guys who may be too small to play for everybody else, but not small enough to play for me.”

[GwillMac6 20,677]

4 hours ago, toddc said:

Bruce Pearl on Auburn freshman Aden Holloway: “He’s special”

Aden Holloway has yet to play a game in college, but he’s already receiving high praise from the man who’s going to coach him.

“He’s special,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said of Holloway on this week’s edition of the College Hoops Today Podcast. “He’s got real gifts.”

A five-star prospect according to the 247Sports Composite, Holloway is in position to be one of the top freshmen in college basketball during the upcoming season.

“Aden has captured the hearts, minds, and souls of our team,” Pearl added regarding the 6-foot Holloway. “They’ve recognized his ability to shoot the ball and elevate his game.”

When asked if Holloway has a chance to join the elite floor generals that have preceded him at Auburn — guys like Jared Harper and Sharife Cooper — as early as next season, Pearl didn’t hesitate.

“He can shoot it better than all of them,” Pearl said. “He’s got great range and great intangibles. Sharife (Cooper) was probably more of a dynamic playmaker and obviously had a great freshman year. Jared (Harper) was a three-year guy that won championships here at Auburn and Aden (Holloway) is much younger. But yes, he does have the makings of a great point guard. And we’ve specialized in undersized guys here — guys who may be too small to play for everybody else, but not small enough to play for me.”

 

[aubiefifty 16,791]

 

[aubiefifty 16,791]

 

[toddc 13,194]

Auburn's Aden Holloway named preseason Freshman All-American by 247Sports

The point guard is Auburn's No. 2 highest-rated signee all time

Nathan King3 hrs

Another Auburn basketball season, another ultra-talented recruit looking to make waves on the Plains.

Aden Holloway, the program's No. 2 highest-rated signee ever, has been named a preseason first team Freshman All-American by 247Sports on Thursday.

"Aden Holloway just looks like a Bruce Pearlpoint guard," wrote 247Sports' Isaac Trotter. "He won't be handed the starting gig — sophomore Tre Donaldson is more than competent — but Holloway is the dynamic shotmaker the Tigers so desperately needed. Plenty of freshmen struggle to make shots every year, but it's easy to see why Auburn is so bullish that Holloway can buck that trend. Holloway should, in theory, be a drop-coverage killer who can scurry around Johni Broome's bulldozer-like picks and make defenses pay for going under ball screens. If the playmaking sticks, Holloway can change the ceiling of Auburn in 2023-24." 

The fifth McDonald’s All-American in program history this year, Holloway finished the 2023 cycle rated by 247Sports as the No. 16 overall player in the country and the No. 3 point guard. Only Jabari Smith, who was an All-American then a top-5 NBA draft pick after his lone season on the Plains, has ever joined Auburn basketball as a better-rated prospect.

A highly gifted shooter at 6-foot-1 and 178 pounds, Holloway worked to develop his body this offseason, after he was listed at 155 pounds at the start of his senior season at Prolific Prep in California.

And just as Pearl has seen the freshman grow in comfort this offseason with his teammates, he’d also like to see Holloway branch out to some of his other skills beyond his elite shooting touch — which was on full display in the team’s first preseason scrimmage last Saturday.

“I thought you could see that Aden stepped up a little bit (in the scrimmage); his energy level was really good,” Pearl said this preseason. “But he can make shots. He's gotta continue to do a better job to be a better playmaker. Again, what happens is that players should go to their strengths. So I am going to want Aden to score, because that's what he does well offensively. I want him to improve as a passer, because it'll make us better and make him better.

“When he doesn't pass it, it doesn't have anything to do with him being selfish or not giving the ball up. It's just that he's better shooting it than he is passing it right now.”

Similar to how Auburn has received immense production from its transfer additions in recent seasons under Pearl, some of its most talented high-school prospects have also performed at a high rate. But Holloway takes things to another level at the point guard position, where he comes in rated even higher than Sharife Cooper, who spent one season at Auburn then became a second-round draft pick.

The Tigers haven’t had six draft picks over the last five years by accident, though. The most talented players to wear the orange and blue under Pearl have also been the most relentless, and Holloway is no different. And Pearl knows the freshman is in for some special moments this season, like those before him have enjoyed.

“Just like Jabari or Walker (Kessler) orIsaac (Okoro) or some of the great players that we've had over the last few years, he's one of our hardest workers,” Pearl said of Holloway. “... With the ball in his hands late, the best thing I can do is find a way to get him open and he'll make a shot. And he just wants to get better. Aden has got some of that 'it'.’ He's got some special in him.”

Holloway and the rest of the Tigers will put their talents on display Thursday afternoon for professional scouts at the program's annual pro day inside Neville Arena.