Former Wildcat Tucker Holloway to play wide receiver, corner for Eagles
When Tucker Holloway first heard that the N.C. High School Athletics Association was delaying the start to the 2020-2021 fall sports season, doubt began to creep into his mind.
With the dream of playing the wide receiver position at the collegiate level well-within his grasp headed into his senior season at Andrews, Holloway knew that the cancellation or even reduction of the fall football season would greatly impact his recruiting options and that he needed to start looking at other options to ensure that he would get a chance to play football at some point within the school year.
“When they made that first push back for the football season,” Holloway said of when he began considering transferring. “That was when I first really started thinking about it because I was like, ‘Man, I really don’t know what’s going to happen.’ And I started thinking that I had to have an option to play football this fall or this year if I really wanted to play college football.”
“But even at that point, in my head I was like, ‘There’s no way I’m ever going to go anywhere else, Andrews is where I plan on playing this fall.’ But that was when I first started thinking about it,” Tucker continued.
As time went on and no new information was being released regarding the football season in North Carolina, Holloway began leaning more towards transferring from Andrews High.
In early August, Holloway and his family traveled out to Rabun Gap to check out the campus and the senior returned home feeling even more conflicted.
“Even just walking around the campus up there, it was a nice campus, but it wasn’t home. I didn’t really feel like I should be there at that point,” Holloway said of his visit to the campus. “But it was a lot of prayer and thinking about it. I was leaning more towards staying but it kept proving true that it was the right decision.”
At Rabun Gap, Holloway will be able to play the wide receiver position – where he projects to line up at the collegiate level – which made the prospect of transferring even more tempting.
Furthermore, at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee, Holloway was able to reclassify into the class of 2022, meaning he will have an extra year at the school to continue working on his wide receiver skills and show his potential in front of college coaches in camps over the offseason.
“I hate that I had to make the decision for a few reasons, but in a lot of ways it was the right decision to make and I think it’s going to pay off,” Holloway said.
Along with playing the slot receiver position, Holloway will also be starting at the corner back spot defensively for Rabun Gap, along with punts and kick returning duties on special teams.
“Every day I walk into practice and there’s a few things going on. Number one, I get the chance to play football this fall, which is awesome in itself,” Holloway said. “And secondly, I get to play the position that I love and plan on playing for the next five years of my life. It’s really my passion and it’s what I love.”
However, the transition hasn’t been the easier for Holloway, who commutes more than an hour to-and-from Rabun Gap daily to attend classes and practice.
“Honestly, it’s been a hard transition,” Holloway said of the move. “It’s a totally different scenario, but it’s been good. Looking back on it, I think I made the right decision, but now I need to go out and prove it.”
Holloway said that leaving Andrews was one of the hardest decisions he’s ever had to make. But no matter where he goes, Andrews High will always hold a special place in his heart.
“No matter where I go, Andrews is always going to be home,” Holloway said of leaving Andrews. “This is where I grew up, this is where I played youth ball, started high school. Andrews High will always have a special place in my heart knowing all the work that was put in here and the friendships, the relationships with the coaches that were made. I can’t say enough about all of the coaches who had big roles in making me the man that I am today, and invested their time in my life. They’ve done so much for me, and I’m so thankful.”