Junior guard has been named Wooden Award All-America for the second straight season
LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the second straight season, University of Kentucky women’s basketball guard Rhyne Howard has been named a John R. Wooden Award All-American, making her again a finalist for the John R. Wooden Award for national player of the year.
The Los Angeles Athletic Club announced the 2021 John R. Wooden Award® Presented by Wendy’s® All American Team™ on ESPNU on Friday afternoon. The Wooden Award All American Team is comprised of five student athletes who were the top vote-getters in the quest to earn college basketball’s top honor. The five-player team, alphabetically, consists of: Aliyah Boston (South Carolina), Paige Bueckers (Connecticut), Dana Evans (Louisville), Rhyne Howard (Kentucky), and NaLyssa Smith (Baylor).
Voting took place from March 16-23, 2021. As insisted upon by Coach Wooden at the Award’s creation 44 years ago, all players were certified by their universities as meeting or exceeding the criteria of the John R. Wooden Award. The 45th annual presentation of the John R. Wooden Award to the women’s most outstanding college basketball player will take place on Monday, April 5th, on SportsCenter on ESPN.
Earlier this week, Howard was named one of four finalists for the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Wade Trophy for national player of the year and a regional finalist for the 2021 WBCA All-America Team. The 2021 WBCA NCAA Division I Coaches’ All-America selection committee will choose the 10-member All-America team from the 52 regional finalists. The 2021 WBCA NCAA Division I Coaches’ All-America team will be announced Saturday, April 3. Each of the last two seasons, Howard was named a WBCA All-America honorable mention.
The honor joins a long list of recent honors for Howard as she has been established as one of the top players in women’s basketball. Last week, Howard was named a first-team All-America selection by the Associated Press and one of four finalists for the 2021 Naismith Trophy for national player of the year. She is now the second player in program history to earn first-team honors from a major organization back-to-back seasons, joining Kentucky Athletics and Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer Valerie Still. Howard has also been named a finalist for the 2021 Cheryl Miller Award, on the national ballot for the Wooden Award and a finalist for the Dawn Staley Award. The Cheryl Miller Award names the best small forward in the nation and this is the second year Howard has been a finalist for that award and on the Wooden national ballot. This is also the second straight year she has been a finalist for the Dawn Staley Award, which is annually awarded to the most outstanding guard in women’s college basketball.
Howard – who entered the NCAA Tournament as the only player in the nation averaging over 20 points per game with at least 7.3 rebounds per game, 50 steals and 70 assists – had a great junior season for the Wildcats, averaging 20.7 points per game with 7.3 rebounds per game. She hit a team-best 56 3-pointers and had 91 assists, 61 steals and 19 blocks. Although her scoring average is two points lower from last season, Howard showed she is an all-around player and not just a scorer, upping her rebounds per game, assists per game and steals per game average from both her freshman and sophomore seasons.
The native of Cleveland, Tennessee, played 24 games this season with nearly half of those coming against top 25 ranked foes. In those games, Howard has shown she is the best player in the country with impressive numbers. In 11 games against ranked opponents, Howard averaged 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 had four 30+ scoring games during the season with three coming against top-25 ranked teams.
Earlier this month at the 2021 SEC Tournament, Howard played two brilliant games for the Wildcats to earn her second straight SEC All-Tournament Team nod. The guard scored 27 points with six rebounds, four assists and four steals against Florida. In a close game late against the Gators, Howard scored nine fourth-quarter points and turned up the defense leading to several steals and a UK win. She followed with 33 points against top-20 ranked Georgia with three 3s, five rebounds, three steals and an assist. Howard, Candace Parker (Tennessee) and DeWanna Bonner (Auburn) are the only players in the event’s history with four games of 25 or more points and five or more rebounds.
One of her best performances of the year was when she 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 83 career games, Howard has hit at least one 3 in 73 games, including 20 games this season. She has posted 10 or more points in 74 career games, 15+ in 59 games, 20+ in 44 games, 25+ in 26 games and 30+ in seven games – including four times this season. The guard has led UK in scoring in 54 career games, in rebounding in 44 career games, in assists in 29 career games, in steals in 30 games and blocks in 31 career games. She has 17 career double-doubles, including six this season.
For her career, Howard has scored 1,655 career points sitting seventh in UK history in points scored. She needs 37 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. Howard ranks second in school history in career scoring average at 19.9, while she is third in career 3s made with 214 and third in career 3-point field-goal percentage at 38.1. She is also eighth in UK history in steals per game at 2.301.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.