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Rhyne Howard

Rhyne Howard (born April 29, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for Vinyl BC of Unrivaled (basketball). She played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats. She graduated from Bradley Central High School in Cleveland, Tennessee, in 2018. She was drafted first overall by the Dream in the 2022 WNBA draft.

In her senior year of high school at Bradley Central, she was named 2018 Tennessee Gatorade Player of the Year and Tennessee Miss Basketball. Howard participated on the USA team in 2018 and 2019, leading them to a gold medal and was awarded MVP honors in 2018. She participated in the Jordan Brand Classic among the top rated recruits in the U.S.[1] Following her freshman season at Kentucky, Howard was named USBWA National Freshman of the Year.[2] In 2020 and 2021, she was named SEC Player of the Year.[3]

College career

Howard notched SEC player of the year in 2020 and 2021, her sophomore and junior years at UK. She also earned All-SEC defensive team and All-SEC first team honors in 2021. In her freshman year, she earned the honors of All-SEC first team and SEC freshman of the year. Entering the Wildcats' 2021 postseason, Howard is the only player in the nation averaging 19 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per game, while snatching 40 steals and 70 assists.[4]

On January 9, 2020, Howard recorded 43 points during a road game visiting the Alabama Crimson Tide. This performance tied the record for most points scored in a single game for a Kentucky women's player. This record was first accomplished by Jennifer O'Neill in 2013. [5]

On January 27, 2022, Howard scored her 2,000th point in her college career, becoming the third Wildcat to reach that benchmark.[6]

Professional career

WNBA

On April 11, 2022, Howard was drafted first overall by the Atlanta Dream in the 2022 WNBA draft.[7] During her rookie year Rhyne started every game and averaged 16.8 points, 2.8 assists, and 1.6 steals. Howard was announced to her first All-star game in July.[8] She went on to earn Rookie of the month honors every month from May to August.[9] Howard would later be announced as the WNBA Rookie of the Year for 2022.[10]

Unrivaled

On July 16, 2024, it was announced that Howard would appear and play in the inaugural season of Unrivaled, a new women's 3-on-3 basketball league founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart.[11]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader

WNBA

Regular season

Stats current through end of 2024 season

WNBA regular season statistics[12]
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2022 Atlanta 34 34 31.4 .361 .343 .792 4.5 2.8 1.6 0.8 1.6 16.2
2023 Atlanta 39 39 32.9 .385 .352 .788 4.9 3.5 1.3 0.6 1.9 17.5
2024 Atlanta 30 29 33.9 .371 .329 .784 4.4 3.2 1.8 0.6 1.7 17.3
Career 3 years, 1 team 103 102 32.7 .373 .342 .788 4.6 3.2 1.5 0.7 1.7 17.0
All-Star 2 0 15.3 .417 .350 1.000 4.0 3.5 0.5 0.0 0.5 14.5

Playoffs

WNBA playoff statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2023 Atlanta 2 2 37.5 .431 .458 .667 3.5 2.0 2.0° 0.5 2.0 28.5°
2024 Atlanta 2 2 34.5 .448 .231 .500 5.5 3.5 2.5 2.5° 1.0 16.5
Career 2 years, 1 team 4 4 36.0 .438 .378 .545 4.5 2.8 2.3 1.5 1.5 22.5

College

NCAA statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2018–19 Kentucky 32 31 30.9 .445 .387 .676 5.1 2.3 2.1 0.7 2.4 16.4
2019–20 Kentucky 27 27 31.2 .433 .382 .791 6.5 2.4 2.3 1.1 2.2 23.4
2020–21 Kentucky 24 24 34.8 .444 .373 .779 7.3 3.8 2.5 0.8 2.1 20.7
2021–22 Kentucky 31 31 35.3 .441 .383 .808 7.4 3.3 2.3 1.3 1.8 20.5
Career 114 113 33.0 .440 .382 .772 6.9 2.9 2.3 1.0 2.2 20.1

Coaching career

Howard was hired as an assistant coach and director of player personnel at Florida in 2023.[13]

Personal life

Howard is a member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority. She was initiated through the Iota Mu chapter at the University of Kentucky.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Rhyne Howard - Women's Basketball". University of Kentucky Athletics. July 27, 2018. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  2. ^ Gear, Camille (December 5, 2019). "Rhyne Howard named to USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Award watch list". www.wymt.com. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  3. ^ "SEC Announces 2021 Women's Basketball Postseason Awards" (Press release). Southeastern Conference. March 2, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  4. ^ Milam, Brian (March 2, 2021). "Rhyne Howard is the SEC Player of the Year...again". www.wkyt.com. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  5. ^ "Kentucky Women's Basketball Leaders & Records - Game".
  6. ^ Howard Scores 2,000th Career Point but Cats Fall at Vandy
  7. ^ "Atlanta Dream Selects Rhyne Howard as First Overall Pick in WNBA Draft 2022 Presented by State Farm". WNBA.com. April 11, 2022. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  8. ^ Pickman, Ben (June 28, 2022). "2022 No. 1 Pick Rhyne Howard Among 12 WNBA ASG Reserves". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  9. ^ Alexandra Parker (August 16, 2022). "Dream's Rhyne Howard wins fourth-straight Rookie of the Month award". www.atlantanewsfirst.com. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  10. ^ "Atlanta Dream's Rhyne Howard Named 2022 Kia Rookie of the Year". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  11. ^ Maloney, Jack (January 17, 2025). "Unrivaled basketball league: Full rosters, list of players participating, teams, head coaches, 'wildcards'". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on January 19, 2025. Retrieved March 15, 2025.
  12. ^ "Rhyne Howard WNBA Stats". Basketball Reference.
  13. ^ "Dream's Rhyne Howard joins Florida's staff for WNBA offseason". ESPN.com. Associated Press. October 9, 2023. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  14. ^ seniorclassaward.com