Signee Rhyne Howard Named to Jordan Brand Classic Roster
LEXINGTON, Ky. – A day removed from being named Tennessee’s Class AAA Miss Basketball, 2018 University of Kentucky women’s basketball signee Rhyne Howard has been tabbed one of 24 players nationwide to play in the prestigious Jordan Brand Classic this summer.
The Jordan Brand Classic, which is now in its 17th year (fourth year for the girls game), will be held Sunday, April 8 in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The girls game will tipoff at 3:30 p.m. ET followed by the boys game at 5:30 p.m. ET. The Jordan Brand Classic website touts the doubleheader as a “showcase of the greatest male and female high school basketball players in the game today.”
The honor for Howard joins a list of accolades this season. On top of her Tennessee Miss Basketball honor she received Tuesday night, Howard was named a McDonald’s All-America Game nominee and was on the Naismith Trophy Preseason and Midseason Watch Lists. Howard along with Blair Green make up UK’s 2018 signing class, which ranks No. 18 in the nation according to All Star Girls Report.
Howard has paced Bradley Central High School to a 33-0 record this season, including a 56-27 win over Daniel Boone in last night’s opening game of the 2018 Tennessee Class AAA State Tournament. In the game, Howard scored 12 points with 12 rebounds adding five assists. Last weekend, Howard was brilliant in leading the Bears to the state tournament. After scoring 41 points on 16-of-25 shooting to help Bradley Central win the District 5-AAA championship, Howard scored 32 points on 14-of-17 shooting with six steals, five assists, four rebounds and two blocks in the Region 1-AAA quarterfinal. She helped the Bears clinch the sectional championship with 27 points and 15 rebounds for her 11th double-double of the season.
Ranked as the eighth best player overall in the 2018 class according to All-Star Girls Report, Howard is having a great senior season at Bradley Central. The athletic combo guard is averaging 22.2 points per game, 7.7 rebounds per game, 5.3 steals per game and 4.1 assists per game. Howard is shooting 54 percent from the field this season and has scored 733 points. The native of Cleveland, Tenn., averaged 19.6 points per game, 7.2 rebounds per game, 4.6 steals per game, 3.8 assists per game and 1.2 blocks per game as a junior. She scored 647 points last year for the Bears, hitting 55 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3. For her efforts, she was named the 2017 TSSAA Class AAA Miss Basketball runner up, was a unanimous District 5 AAA Player of the Year and a Tennessee Sports Writer’s Association All-State honoree.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, or Kentucky Women’s Basketball on Facebook.
