UK WBB: Rhyne Howard Named to Wooden Award Preseason Top 30

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Rhyne Howard, who was a 2019-20 Wooden Award All-American, has been named to the John R. Wooden Award Women’s Preseason Top 30 Watch List, which is comprised of 30 student-athletes who are the early front-runners for one of the most prestigious honors in college basketball.

The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2021 John R. Wooden Award Women’s Player of the Year presented by Wendy’s. Players not chosen to the preseason list are still eligible for the Wooden Award™ midseason list, late season list and the national ballot. The national ballot consists of 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the Wooden Award. Voters will rank in order 10 of those 15 players when voting opens prior to the NCAA Tournament and will allow voters to take into consideration performance during early round games. The Wooden Award All American Team™ will be announced the week of the Elite Eigh round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of the 2021 John R. Wooden Award will be presented by Wendy’s following the NCAA Tournament in April.

This preseason Howard has been named an unanimous selection to the Associated Press All-America Team, Southeastern Conference Preseason SEC Player of the Year by league coaches and media, WBCA Wade Trophy Watch List, 2021 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Preseason Watch List and Cheryl Miller Award Preseason Watch List.

Howard is the leading returner after a sensational sophomore season for Kentucky, leading the Wildcats and ranking second nationally with 23.4 points per game. The guard also led UK with 6.5 rebounds per game and 62 steals, while she was second on the team with 29 blocks and third on the team with 68 assists. Howard hit 84 3-pointers this season, which was the most in program history in a single season, topping the previous record of 81 set by Sara Potts in 2004-05. Her 3.1 3-pointers per game ranked top-10 nationally while her 633 total points ranked fifth nationally. Howard’s 23.4 scoring average was the most for a UK player under Matthew Mitchell and the fourth-best average in program history.

Howard placed her name all over the Kentucky record books in 2019-20 as the only player in program history to score 25 or more points in five straight games while she was the second player to score 20 or more points in eight straight games. Howard had two stretches during the season of 20 or more points in eight straight games, including each of her last eight games played after missing three games with a finger injury.

Two of the top-12 scoring performances in program history came last season by Howard. The first was her 37 points in UK’s win vs. Tennessee followed by a school-record tying 43 points at Alabama. She is the only player in program history to score 37+ points in consecutive games and the first to hit seven or more 3-pointers in consecutive games. On top of earning six double-doubles last season, Howard became the second fastest UK player ever to reach 1,000 career points and ended the season with 1,158 career points which ranks 27th on UK’s all-time scoring list.

Last season, Howard became the first player in program history to earn first-team All-America honors from the AP, while she was the fifth Kentucky player to earn first-team All-America honors from a major organization and just the second UK player behind Valerie Still to earn three or more first-team All-America honors in the same season.

The 2020 SEC Player of the Year, Howard earned first-team All-SEC and SEC All-Defensive Team honors last season, while she was one of four finalists for the Citizen Naismith Trophy, recognizing the most outstanding women’s college basketball player of the year. On top of being a finalist for the 2020 Cheryl Miller Award, Howard was also one of five finalists for the John R. Wooden Award and earned All-America honors from the United States Basketball Writers Association, which automatically made her one of five candidates for the Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Year.