Guard is up for nearly all national player of the year awards this season
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Rhyne Howard continues her sweep of being a top candidate for national player of the year as the University of Kentucky guard has added another national honor to her list, being named one of 15 players to the Wooden Award National Ballot.
Selected by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board, the national ballot consists of 15 student-athletes who are candidates for the Wooden Award All-American Team and Wooden Award Trophy as the most outstanding college basketball player in the United States. Howard is one of six players returning to the national ballot this season.
All balloted players have been certified by their university to meet or exceed the qualifications for the Wooden Award as set forth by Coach Wooden when the Award was established. The qualifications include: candidates must exhibit strength of character, both on and off the court; candidates must be full-time students in an accredited NCAA college or university; candidates must be making progress toward graduation and have a cumulative 2.00 grade point average since enrolling in their school; candidates must contribute to team effort; candidates must excel in both offense and defense; and candidates should be considered on their performance over the course of the entire season.
Voting will take place from March 16th to March 23rd, and voters take into consideration a player’s entire season of play, as well as the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The finalists for the 2021 Wooden Award presented by Wendy’s will be announced on March 26th.
Earlier Saturday, Howard was named a finalist for the second straight season for the Dawn Staley Award. She has received a ton of national recognition this week as a finalist for the 2021 Cheryl Miller Award, one of 11 semifinalists for the Naismith Trophy Women’s National Player of the Year and SEC Player of the Year for the second straight season by league coaches. She was also tabbed All-SEC First Team. She becomes the third player in league history to win two player of the year honors prior to their senior season. Howard is the second UK player to win back-to-back honors from league coaches.
Howard, who is the only power five conference player in the nation averaging over 20 points per game and 7.3 rebounds per game with at least 50 steals and 75 assists, is having another banner season for the Wildcats. The only player in the SEC currently leading her team in scoring, rebounding and assists, Howard is averaging 20.7 points per game with 7.3 rebounds per game. She is leading Kentucky with 78 assists and ranks second on the team with 51 steals and third with 18 blocks. Howard has hit a team-best 49 3-pointers and is playing 35 minutes per game.
This week in the 2021 SEC Tournament, Howard played two brilliant games. The guard scored 27 points with six rebounds, four assists and four steals against Florida. She followed with 33 points against top-20 ranked Georgia with three 3s, five rebounds, three steals and an assist.
Her best performances this season have come against the best teams in the nation. In 11 games against ranked opponents, Howard is averaging 22.3 points per game, hitting 47.1 percent from the field and 39.7 percent from 3 with 6.7 rebounds per game and 3.0 assists per game. Howard scored 33 points at No. 12 Mississippi State, hitting four 3s with 10 rebounds and six assists. She scored 25 points in the fourth quarter and overtime against the Bulldogs, scoring 25 of UK’s last 31 points, including 10 of 14 in overtime.
Other impressive performances on the biggest stage include 32 points with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals against No. 5 South Carolina and 24 points with four 3s, 10 rebounds and four assists against No. 10 Arkansas. She also posted 22 points against No. 13 Indiana and at No. 8 Texas A&M. Howard took over for Kentucky at No. 17 Georgia with 27 points, four rebounds, four steals, two assists and went 4-of-4 from 3 and then followed with her 33-point performance against the Bulldogs in the SEC Tournament.
Howard’s career is already one of the best in program history with still games remaining this year and her senior season in 2021-22. In 81 career games, Howard has hit at least one 3 in 71 games, including 18 games this season. She has posted 10 or more points in 72 career games, 15+ in 58 games, 20+ in 43 games, 25+ in 25 games and 30+ in seven games – including four times this season. The guard has led UK in scoring in 52 career games, in rebounding in 43 career games, in assists in 27 career games, in steals in 28 games and blocks in 30 career games. She has 17 career double-doubles, including six this season.
For her career, Howard has scored 1,613 career points sitting seventh in UK history in points scored. She needs 79 more to tie Maci Morris for sixth. Howard is the second player in school history to reach 1,500 career points prior to their senior season with the other being All-American and UK all-time leading scorer Valerie Still.