Kentucky’s Rhyne Howard earns more national recognition. This is a big one.
The University of Kentucky has something special in Rhyne Howard.
More evidence came forth Wednesday night when the Wildcats sophomore was named to the 2019-20 John R. Wooden All-American Team.
Howard, who previously became the first UK women’s basketball player to be named an Associated Press First Team All-American last month, was one of five players selected for the Wooden squad and the only underclassman.
Howard was joined by four seniors: Baylor’s Lauren Cox, South Carolina’s Tyasha Harris and Oregon’s Ruthy Hebard and Sabrina Ionescu.
All five are now finalists for the 44th John R. Wooden Outstanding Player Award, which recognizes this season’s finest college basketball player.
That award will be presented Monday during the 5 p.m. EDT showing of “SportsCenter” on ESPN.
Howard, who was named a First Team All-American by the United States Basketball Writer Association and an honorable mention All-American by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, is in the running for even more accolades this year.
She is one of four finalists for the Citizen Naismith Trophy, the winner of which will be revealed Friday at noon on CBS Sports HQ. Howard is also a top-five finalist for the WBCA’s Cheryl Miller Award, which goes to the nation’s top small forward.
Howard, who finished second in the nation and first in the Southeastern Conference in scoring at 23.4 points per game, was voted SEC Player of the Year by the league’s coaches and named to the First Team and All-Defensive Team.
Howard, a 6-foot-2 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 with 68 assists. Her 84 three-pointers were the most in a single season in UK history.
Howard became the second fastest UK player ever to reach 1,000 career points and ended the season with 1,158, which ranks 27th on Kentucky’s all-time scoring list.
This story was originally published April 2, 2020 at 8:07 AM.