Historic 3-Peat: Rhyne Howard Named AP First-Team All-America
LEXINGTON, Ky. – A once in a generation player, doing once in a generation things.
The Associated Press announced Wednesday that University of Kentucky senior guard Rhyne Howard has been named a first-team All-American, making her the ninth player in women’s college basketball history to earn that title three times during their career. Other players to accomplish the feat are Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu, South Carolina’s A’ja Wilson, Baylor’s Brittney Griner, Tennessee’s Chamique Holdsclaw, Duke’s Alana Beard, Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris and UConn’s Breanna Stewart and Maya Moore.
Howard was tabbed AP First-Team All-America in 2020 and 2021 after historic seasons for the Wildcats. She is the second Kentucky women’s basketball player ever to earn three first-team honors from the same organization, joining Valerie Still, who was first-team All-America by Street & Smith’s in 1981, 1982 and 1983.
In 2020, Howard became the first player in program history to earn AP First-Team All-America honors since the organization started recognizing teams in 1995. That honor made Howard the fifth Kentucky player in program history to earn first-team All-America honors from a major organization, joining Pam Browning (1977, Street and Smith’s), Valerie Still (1981, 82, 83, Street and Smith’s), Victoria Dunlap (2010, USBWA and WBCA) and A’dia Mathies (2012, USBWA).
The honor joins a long list of honors for Howard in recent weeks as she has established herself as one of the top players in women’s basketball. In the last few weeks, Howard has been named a finalist for the 2022 Cheryl Miller Award, one of 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Trophy Women’s National Player of the Year, 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 third year Howard has been a finalist. The Naismith Trophy and Wooden Award both seek to name the top player in women’s college basketball. Howard was a finalists for the Naismith Trophy and was a Wooden All-American each of the last two seasons. This is also the third 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.
The most versatile player in the country, Howard is the only player in the nation that has over 600+ points, 200+ rebounds, 100+ assists, 70+ steals and 35+ blocks.
“Rhyne Howard is the best player in women’s college basketball and completely worthy of being a three-time, first-team AP All-American,” UK head coach Kyra Elzy said. “She is the most versatile player I have ever coached. What sets her apart from everyone else is that she can play every position on the floor and be offensively and defensively exceptional at each. Her legacy at Kentucky is unmatched and we are so proud of all she has accomplished.”
It has been a brilliant few weeks for Howard, who has played at an even more elite level than she previously was during Kentucky’s historic 10-game winning streak. Most recently, Howard shined on the national stage in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, helping Kentucky to its first tournament title in 40 years. The guard was named the tournament’s most valuable player, becoming the second player in program history to earn that honor. Howard scored 88 points in UK’s four games at the event, marking the third most ever by a player in the tournament.
The Wildcats won the championship with a huge upset victory over No. 1 South Carolina. Howard was amazing in the game, scoring 18 points with four rebounds, two assists and two blocks. In the semifinals, Howard scored 24 points against No. 15 Tennessee with seven assists, nine rebounds and two 3s. Howard led Kentucky to an upset victory over No. 6 LSU in the quarterfinals, scoring 32 points with six 3-pointers. The guard had 14 points against Mississippi State in the second round of the event.
During the final week of the regular season, Kentucky celebrated Rhyne Howard Day vs. Auburn as the guard played her final game inside Memorial Coliseum and went out in style. Howard scored 32 points in the game, which is the most points ever by a Kentucky senior on Senior Day. Howard hit eight 3s in the game, which was a new school record for 3s made in a game. She had six 3s in the first half, which was a new school record for 3s in half. The eight makes from long range gave Howard 272 career 3s, which makes her the school’s career record holder in 3s made. Her 32 points were a season high and the performance gave her the second-most 30-point games in school history with nine.
She started the final week of the regular season with 19 points and a season-best 12 rebounds at Mizzou, adding four assists and four steals against MU as the Wildcats claimed back-to-back road wins in the SEC by 15+ points for the first time since 2016. The double-double against Missouri was her team-leading 10th of the season and helped her earn SEC Player of the Week honors.
The week prior, Howard was named the Naismith Trophy National Player of the Week after several incredible performances. Howard was brilliant in all three Kentucky games that week, starting with 16 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, two steals and two 3s against Mississippi State. She helped Kentucky power back from down 15 points in the fourth quarter for the 11th-largest comeback in program history. Against Vanderbilt, Howard scored 17 points with four rebounds, three assists and three 3s. Her best outing came at Arkansas, scoring 29 points with five 3s, adding 10 rebounds, two assists and two blocks. She went 9-of-16 from the field and 5-of-10 from 3. Two of the three games were double-doubles for Howard.
Her performances over the last few weeks have moved Howard up to 17th all-time on the SEC’s career scoring list. So far this season, Howard is leading Kentucky by averaging 20.6 points per game, earning 7.3 rebounds per game with 101 assists, 71 steals, 39 blocks and a team best 68 3-pointers. Howard ranks high nationally in several categories, including 15th nationally in points per game and 13th nationally in total points. Howard ranks first in the Southeastern Conference in points per game and final points.
One of her best games this season came against top-15 ranked Georgia, scoring 30 points in the game, including 22 in the second half. She scored 17 points in the fourth quarter. On top of scoring UK’s last 10 points in the game, she scored 13 of UK’s last 17 points overall. She also shined against West Virginia, when she scored 27 points, going 5-of-7 from long range with six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Against Winthrop, Howard joined an exclusive club by becoming the third player in UK history to record a triple-double in a game. She scored 22 points against the Eagles with 10 rebounds and 10 assists, adding five steals.
Howard’s career is already one of the best in program history. In 113 career games, Howard has hit at least one 3 in 98 games, posted 10 or more points in 101 career games, 15+ in 84 games, 20+ in 61 games, 25+ in 33 games and 30+ 10 games. The guard has led UK in scoring in 72 career games, in rebounding in 60 career games, in assists in 40 career games, in steals in 50 games and blocks in 45 career games. She has 27 career double-doubles and one triple-double. This season, Howard has hit a 3 in 25 games, three-plus 3s in 10 games, five-plus 3s in five games, scored 10+ in 27 games, 15+ in 25 games, 20+ in 17 games, 25+ in seven games and three 30-point game. She has led UK in scoring 18 times, rebounding 15 times, assists 11 times, steals 19 times, blocks 14 times and has 10 season double-doubles.
For her career, Howard has scored 2,273 career points sitting second in UK history in points scored. Against Vanderbilt, Howard scored her 2,000 career points, becoming just the third Wildcat in school history – both men’s and women’s – to record 2,000 or more points in 100 games or less. She joined Hall of Famers Dan Issel and Valerie Still in that category. Howard ranks second in school history in career scoring average at 20.1, while she is second in field-goals made with 786, first in career 3s made with 282 and fourth in career 3-point field-goal percentage at 38.2. She is also fourth in UK history in steals per game at 2.318.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
