Tim Holliday had to prove his potential. Now he gets his shot.
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - April 21, 2026
Proximity was a selling point but that was just part of the reason that Mississippi native Tim Holliday chose to sign with Andy’s Kennedy’s UAB men’s basketball program on Monday.
The 6-foot-3, 195-pound shooting guard, who is from Fulton, Miss. and played one season at Itawamba Community College, took an official recruiting visit to UAB late last week. The drive from his hometown took just under two hours, he enjoyed the visit and drove home. Not long after, it took two planes to get him to El Paso, Texas and a car ride of around an hour to get him to Las Cruces, N.M. for his New Mexico State official visit.
“No, it really didn't matter,” Holliday said of the proximity difference between the two visits. “No, I take that back it did matter because hopping on two flights and driving (an hour) to New Mexico, that played a big factor. I wanted my parents to come to more of my games than they would have if I were playing in New Mexico. So, that played a big factor.”
Even before that, though, Holliday was close to being sold on becoming a Blazer.
“I like the city, man,” Holliday said. “(They) have a lot of great things to do. I liked the people. I know it’s a big basketball school so I have to go in there with the mindset to win. I know (they) like to win. I liked the coaches. It feels like a family, it doesn’t feel like a business. I love to go into a place feeling wanted and they made me feel real wanted.”
Holliday got little recruiting attention from four-year programs after finishing up at Fulton’s Itawamba Agricultural High, which has an enrollment of around 550 students and plays at the 4A level in Mississippi. So made the four-mile trip from the high school to the junior college.
“I had interest, but nobody really knew that I would be this good of a shooter coming out of JUCO,” Holliday said. “So I had to go to JUCO and prove myself first before anybody would take a chance. My (high) school, you know, people always say that we didn't play nobody or we were 4A. So I had to go to the (JUCO) level to see if I could do it there.”
He proved himself in his lone junior college season. Holliday averaged 14 points and 3.7 rebounds per game in 31 games as the team’s sixth man. He was 63-for-111 (56.7 percent) on 2-point attempts, 72-for-186 (38.7 percent) on 3-pointers and 91-for-111 (82 percent) on free throws.
“Because at first, just real talk, (people) talk bad about JUCO players and stuff like that,” Holliday said. “But then when I got into it's a real grind. These guys are hungry, they're trying to get out. They're trying to do good for their family and do good for themselves. I most definitely got put in that fire and I felt the heat. There’s no problem with being a JUCO player, you just got to grind it out and your time will come.”
Holliday was able to get some information about UAB from Itawamba assistant coach Josh Lane, who was once part of Kennedy’s staff. Now Holliday is headed to play for the Blazers. On Monday, when asked, he gave a self-evaluation on what UAB fans should expect.
“My strengths as a basketball player, I can guard, I can spot up shoot, I can shoot off the dribble, I can shoot off the catch, I can shoot hand up or wide open and get to the rim,” Holliday said. “I'm a (force) on defense. I can rebound. I just do little things that can help any team win.”