Rhyne Howard three-peats as AP First-Team All-American

Rhyne Howard accomplished something that had only been done by eight others throughout history. Crown her, indeed.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Associated Press tabbed Howard as a First-Team All-American for the third consecutive year, making her just the ninth women’s basketball player ever to earn such recognition. The Kentucky Wildcats senior guard joins a list that features some of the game’s all-time greats, including 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.

Not bad company to be in.

3⃣x @AP first-team All-American: @howard_rhyne 👏

Howard is one of only NINE collegiate women's basketball players to earn this distinction from @AP three times!#CrownHer 👑 pic.twitter.com/NNaW2sPLUY

— Kentucky WBB (@KentuckyWBB) March 16, 2022

Howard was also tabbed to the AP First-Team as a sophomore in 2020 and a junior in 2021. She is just the second player in program history to earn First-Team All-American honors in three seasons, joining the great Valerie Still, who was tabbed as a First-Team All-American by Street & Smith’s in 1981, 1982, and 1983.

“That’s huge. Definitely selective company. To be a three-time, and one of nine, now that’s something you had to work for,” Howard said, according to the AP’s press release. “I don’t know how to explain it. I was glad I was able to accomplish that.”

Earlier this month, Howard was named to her third consecutive All-SEC First-Team before taking home SEC Tournament MVP honors in what was Kentucky’s first conference tournament title since 1982. The 6-foot-2 native of Cleveland, TN currently ranks second in school history in regards to total points — both men’s and women’s — with 2,273 career points, trailing only Still in that category.

During her senior season, Howard has averaged 20.6 points, 7.3 rebounds. 3.4 assists, 2.4 steals, and 1.3 blocks per outing across 30 total contests. In those 35.4 minutes per game, she’s shooting 44.5 percent from the floor, 38.4 percent from distance, and 80.0 percent from the free-throw line. Howard is widely expected to go either first or second in the upcoming 2022 WNBA Draft.

Howard will lead her Wildcats into the NCAA Tournament for the final time when six-seeded Kentucky takes on 11-seeded Princeton up in Bloomington, IN on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. EST.

Associated Press All-American Teams

First-Team

Rhyne Howard – Kentucky
Aliyah Boston – South Carolina
Caitlin Clark – Iowa
NaLyssa Smith – Baylor
Naz Hillmon – Michigan
Haley Jones – Stanford

*Hillmon and Jones tied for the final spot*

Second-Team

Ayoka Lee – Kansas State
Ashley Joens – Iowa State
Aneesah Morrow – DePaul
Khayla Pointer – LSU
Elissa Cunane – NC State

Third-Team

Elizabeth Kitley – Virginia Tech
Maddy Siegrist – Villanova
Veronica Burton – Northwestern
Cameron Brink – Stanford
Angel Reese – Maryland