AUBURN — Auburn basketball is no stranger to elite talent in the coach Bruce Pearl era, and five-star freshman Aden Holloway may be the the next player in that line.

Holloway, who is in the midst of a battle with sophomore Tre Donaldson for the starting point guard spot, averaged a team-high 18.5 points to go along with 5.1 assists and 4.4 rebounds during his senior season at Prolific Prep in Napa, California last season.

"Just like Jabari (Smith) or Walker (Kessler) or Isaac (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 on Tuesday. "... Aden is in there every morning, without fail. He's got some special in him. He can really shoot the ball and he's got great range. He's a quiet leader. He and Tre have done a phenomenal job working together, getting to learn the position (and) competing against one another, but being unbelievable teammates.

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"That's the only position that we're going to be young at. Tre will be in his second year of college and Aden will be a freshman. We're going to be young at quarterback. We're going to be young at point guard. But they can each play and they've each got their own strengths. Aden has got — like with the ball in his late, the best thing I can do is find a way to get him open and he'll make a shot. He just wants to get better. Aden has got some of that 'it.' He's got some special in him."

Donaldson averaged 2.5 points and 1.2 assists across 32 games off the bench last season, including an 11-point performance against Iowa in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Chris Moore healthy again

Pearl mentioned senior forward Chris Moore is healthy again after he went down with a shoulder injury last season. He's competing for minutes at small forward.

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn basketball: Who will Bruce Pearl choose to start a point guard