Aaron Holiday

Aaron Holiday
No. 3 – UCLA Bruins
Position Guard
League Pac-12 Conference
Personal information
Born (1996-09-30) September 30, 1996
Ruston, Louisiana
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight 185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High school Campbell Hall (Los Angeles, California)
College UCLA (2015–present)

Aaron Shawn Holiday (born September 30, 1996) is an American college basketball player for the UCLA Bruins. The guard played in high school in Los Angeles, where he was ranked among the top players nationally. Holiday was a starter as a college freshman in 2015–16 before becoming the Bruins' leading reserve as a sophomore. He is the younger brother of National Basketball Association (NBA) players Jrue and Justin Holiday.

Early life

Holiday was born in Ruston, Louisiana, to Shawn and Toya Holiday.[1] He attended high school at Campbell Hall in Los Angeles, where he was a four-year starter.[2] As a freshman, he led the team in scoring, averaging 24.3 points per game.[3] He averaged 28.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 6.0 assists as a junior before being named both CIF Southern Section IV-A and Los Angeles Daily News Player of the Year honors.[4][5] Holiday improved as a facilitator as a senior, when his scoring dropped, but his passing enabled other teammates to emerge as scoring threats.[6] Averaging 25 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.5 steals, he led Campbell Hall to its first sectional and California regional final since 2008, and shared Daily News Player of the Year honors with Bennie Boatwright of Valley Christian.[7] Holiday was rated a four-star college recruit as one of the top prep players in the nation, ranked No. 40 by Scout.com, No. 60 by Rivals.com, and No. 88 by ESPN.com.[1][8][9]

College career

Holiday entered UCLA with a reputation as a tenacious defender capable of applying full-court pressure.[10] After an exhibition game against the Bruins, Cal State Los Angeles coach Dieter Horton admired his ability to disrupt, calling him a "little Tasmanian devil on defense".[11] Holiday and fellow recruit Prince Ali brought needed depth to UCLA, who were thin at guard during the previous season. In Holiday, Bruins' third-year coach Steve Alford possessed the most natural point guard he had had at the school. He hoped the freshman could help ease ball-handling duties from incumbent point guard Bryce Alford, the coach's son, who was more effective catching the ball and shooting.[12] In a scrimmage against San Diego State which Bryce Alford mostly missed due to an injury, Holiday's performance against a strong Aztecs defense prompted their coach, Steve Fisher, to call him "by far the best player on the floor".[13]

UCLA opened the 2015–16 season with Holiday as starter, along with Alford and Isaac Hamilton, in a three-guard lineup.[14] Hamilton could also play point guard,[13] but Holiday and Alford shared most of the responsibilities.[15] On December 3, 2015, Holiday had 10 points, seven assists, and eight rebounds in an 87–77 upset over No. 1 Kentucky, the Bruins' first win over a top-ranked opponent since 2003.[16] On January 9, 2016, he made the go-ahead three-point field goal with just over a minute remaining in an 81–74 win over Arizona State,[17] which helped UCLA avoid falling to 1–3 in the Pac-12 Conference for the first time in almost 20 years.[18] However, the Bruins lost their final five games of the season to finish with a 15–17 record.[19] Holiday started all 32 games during the season, averaging 10.3 points while leading the team in both steals (1.4) and three-point field goal percentage (41.9), which also ranked sixth in the Pac-12.[1][20] He was second on the team in assists (4.0). His 127 assists were the fifth-highest freshman total in school history, and the most by a UCLA freshman since his brother Jrue had 129 in 2008–09.[1]

In 2016–17, Holiday was moved to the bench and became the Bruins' sixth man as freshman point guard Lonzo Ball joined seniors Alford and Hamilton in the starting lineup.[21] He did not complain about his new role, and thrived while continuing to receive starter-like playing time as the Bruins frequently used a four-guard lineup.[22][23] On December 3, 2016, he scored 13 points and had four assists to lead No. 11 UCLA to a 97–92 road win over No. 1 Kentucky, ending the Wildcats' 42-game home winning streak.[24] He led the team in scoring in the first half, when he made all four of his shot attempts and scored all of his 13 points as the Bruins built a 49–45 lead.[24][25] His performance amidst Ball's struggles early in the game was lauded by the Los Angeles Times, ESPN.com, and NBCSports.com for changing the course of the game.[22][24][26] UCLA earned a No 3 seed in the 2017 NCAA Tournament. With Ball slowed by a hip injury in their opening game against Kent State, Holiday had 15 points and a career-high 11 assists off the bench to help the Bruins win 97–80.[27][28] The Bruins ended the season 31–5 after losing in the Sweet 16 to Kentucky. For the season, Holiday averaged 12.3 points and 4.4 assists in over 26 minutes per game, and he received honorable mention for the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team.[29] Although he was not listed in most mock drafts, he declared for the 2017 NBA draft.[30] Later, he withdrew his name from the draft to retain his college eligibility.[31]

Personal life

Holiday is the youngest of four children. Brothers Jrue and Justin became NBA players. Jrue also attended UCLA, as did sister Lauren, who played on the Bruins women's basketball team. Additionally, he is a brother-in-law of USA women's soccer international Lauren Holiday.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Aaron Holiday". UCLABruins.com. Archived from the original on November 24, 2015.
  2. ↑ Flores, Ronnie (May 4, 2015). "All-State Boys BB: Best of Best". Cal-Hi Sports. Archived from the original on December 10, 2015.
  3. ↑ Rappaport, Max (December 31, 2013). "Holiday's L.A. return a family affair". NBA.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2015.
  4. ↑ Flores, Ronnie (May 2, 2014). "All-State Boys BB: First Team Elites". Cal-Hi Sports. Archived from the original on December 10, 2015.
  5. ↑ Pollon, Jacob S. (April 15, 2014). "2014 Daily News All-Area Boys Basketball". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on December 10, 2015.
  6. ↑ Barnes, Evan (March 5, 2015). "Campbell Hall’s UCLA-bound Aaron Holiday looking to add to family jewels". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on December 10, 2015.
  7. ↑ Barnes, Evan (April 14, 2015). "2015 Daily News Boys Basketball All-Area Team: Aaron Holiday, Bennie Boatwright share top honors". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on December 10, 2015.
  8. ↑ Phillips, Scott (March 3, 2014). "Aaron Holiday, younger brother of Jrue Holiday, commits to UCLA". College Basketball Talk. NBC Sports. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  9. ↑ Kaufman, Joey (November 18, 2015). "Freshman guard Aaron Holiday proves a quick study". The Orange County Register. Archived from the original on December 10, 2015.
  10. ↑ Rothstein, John (October 29, 2015). "Observations: UCLA freshman guard Aaron Holiday will have a major role". CBSSports.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2015.
  11. ↑ Eisenberg, Jeff (November 4, 2015). "West Coast Bias: Opposing coaches assess five of this year's top teams". The Dagger. Yahoo! Sports!. Archived from the original on December 10, 2015.
  12. ↑ Helfand, Zach (September 1, 2015). "Freshmen Prince Ali, Aaron Holiday bring needed jolt to UCLA backcourt". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 10, 2015.
  13. 1 2 Helfand, Zach (November 13, 2015). "Freshman Aaron Holiday brings energy and swarming defense to UCLA". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015.
  14. ↑ Helfand, Zach (November 22, 2015). "UCLA has a chance to prove itself in Maui Invitational". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 10, 2015.
  15. ↑ Helfand, Zach (November 29, 2015). "UCLA finds outlet for better point-guard play in 77–45 win over Cal State Northridge". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015.
  16. ↑ Wang, Jack (December 3, 2015). "UCLA stuns No. 1 Kentucky, 87–77, at Pauley Pavilion". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on December 10, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Holiday's 3-pointer sends UCLA past Arizona State, 81-74". AP. January 9, 2016. Archived from the original on January 11, 2016.
  18. ↑ Kaufman, Joey (January 9, 2016). "Holiday's 3-pointer helps UCLA rally to beat Arizona State, 81-74". The Orange County Register. Archived from the original on January 11, 2016.
  19. ↑ Li, Derek (March 15, 2016). "Tony Parker looks toward future after frustrating senior season". The Daily Bruin. Archived from the original on June 19, 2016.
  20. ↑ Helfand, Zach (March 13, 2016). "How UCLA basketball roster shapes up for 2016-17". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 8, 2016.
  21. ↑ Miller, Jeff (December 23, 2016). "Miller: Despite losing starting role for Bruins, he's a happy Holiday". The Orange County Register. Archived from the original on December 28, 2016.
  22. 1 2 Goodman, Jeff (December 17, 2016). "Lonzo Ball took Aaron Holiday's spot, and they're both benefitting". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on January 11, 2017.
  23. ↑ Miller, Jeff (December 23, 2016). "Miller: Aaron Holiday’s willingness to come off bench a boost for Bruins". The Sun. Archived from the original on March 5, 2017.
  24. 1 2 3 Bolch, Ben (December 3, 2016). "No. 11 UCLA knocks off the top-ranked Wildcats in Kentucky". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 5, 2017.
  25. ↑ Dam, Tuan (December 3, 2016). "UCLA men’s basketball completes Kentucky upset for second year in a row". The Daily Bruin. Archived from the original on March 5, 2017.
  26. ↑ Dauster, Rob (December 19, 2016). "Five Things We Learned This Week: Malik Monk, Justin Jackson and Aaron Holiday". NBCSports.com. Archived from the original on March 5, 2017.
  27. ↑ Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (March 17, 2017). "Lonzo Ball sets UCLA assist record in NCAA Tournament win". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on March 18, 2017.
  28. ↑ "UCLA Defeats Kent State, 97-80". UCLABruins.com. March 17, 2017. Archived from the original on March 18, 2017.
  29. ↑ Fowler, Clay (March 7, 2017). "Lonzo Ball, TJ Leaf, Bryce Alford named first-team All-Pac-12". Inside UCLA. Archived from the original on May 6, 2017.
  30. ↑ Fowler, Clay (April 10, 2017). "UCLA’s Thomas Welsh, Aaron Holiday to test NBA waters". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on April 13, 2017.
  31. ↑ Fowler, Clay (May 23, 2017). "Thomas Welsh, Aaron Holiday choose UCLA over NBA". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on May 24, 2017.
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