Aaron Holiday

Early life

Holiday was born in Ruston, Louisiana, to Shawn and Toya Holiday. He attended high school at Campbell Hall in Los Angeles, where he was a four-year starter. As a freshman, he led the team in scoring, averaging 24.3 points per game. 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. Holiday improved as a facilitator as a senior, when his scoring dropped, but his passing enabled other teammates to emerge as scoring threats. 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. 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.

College career

Holiday entered UCLA with a reputation as a tenacious defender capable of applying full-court pressure. 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". 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. 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".

UCLA opened the 2015–16 season with Holiday as starter, along with Alford and Isaac Hamilton, in a three-guard lineup. Hamilton could also play point guard, but Holiday and Alford shared most of the responsibilities. 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. 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, which helped UCLA avoid falling to 1–3 in the Pac-12 Conference for the first time in almost 20 years. However, the Bruins lost their final five games of the season to finish with a 15–17 record. 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. 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.

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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Although he was not listed in most mock drafts, he declared for the 2017 NBA draft. Later, he withdrew his name from the draft to retain his college eligibility.

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.