Did Kentucky guard Rhyne Howard feel snubbed when the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association left her off their All-America team in 2020, choosing to list her as an Honorable Mention instead?
The resounding answer is yes, but the 6-foot-2 junior is glad it happened. Now, the 2020-21 Kentucky women’s basketball schedule will be the innocent but necessary victim.
“I love to see it,” Howard said in an interview with Go Big Blue Country. “It just doesn’t make sense to me because I was an All-American on the other committees, so what’s your purpose for putting me as honorable mention? I know I have something to prove.”
It’s a scary thought that the reigning SEC Player of the Year and leading returning scorer in all of women’s college basketball has more to prove. But this isn’t Howard’s first mission to prove doubters wrong.
As a senior at Bradley-Central High School in Cleveland, Tennessee, Howard didn’t make the McDonald’s All-American Game roster.
Those who know or talk to Howard will tell you the UK star has a quiet demeanor but underneath lies a determination and fire that burns even brighter to be the best.
In the games that followed the McDonald’s snub, Howard averaged 29.9 points, 8.2 rebounds, 6.4 steals, and 4.6 assists, including performances of 41, 38, and 39 points in the first three games.
“I think next season, my first couple of games will be huge games. I want for myself to not have a bad game or let people even think it’s not up to par. I always want to give my best for my teammates, my coaches, and the program. I love to be in the gym; I love to get better. I feel like if I’m not trying to get better for myself or my teammates, then I’m letting someone down.”
Howard’s coaches and teammates all came to her defense when the WBCA’s decision kept her from being named a consensus All-American. Kentucky head coach Matthew Mitchell dedicated an entire Twitter thread to his star player.
“Rhyne Howard is an All-American,” Mitchell wrote on social media. “It has never been my style to comment on situations as this, but this is an event I cannot let pass without comment.”
“It just shows that he cares about his players off the court as much as he does on the court,” Howard said about Mitchell’s tweet. “He wants to see us all succeed in the classroom and life. He wants to be an impact on your life eight years from now. With him tweeting that about my basketball and personal life, just shows he means well, and he’s for you no matter what happens.”
Mitchell isn’t the only head basketball coach on campus in Howard’s corner. She developed a close relationship with Kentucky men’s basketball coach John Calipari.
“It started when I went to his talk show at Malone’s. He was there, and he mentioned me on the radio. I was kind of fangirling because it’s Coach Cal, who wouldn’t? Ever since then, he would always talk about me, or I would just sit in practice, and he would joke around with the guys. Ever since then, we’ve been pretty close, and I can talk to him, and he’ll talk to me.”
It was Calipari who was there when Howard missed three games during SEC play due to a fractured left pinky finger.
“One time, he gave me this book about staying positive. That helped because it was around the time I was injured. I know he’s a busy guy trying to get good players to continue to play for us, but for him to be invested in our side of the program and myself, it just shows that he’s a great guy, and he isn’t all about business. He has feelings. He cares.”
Howard returned from injury and surpassed 1,000 points for her UK career, becoming the second-fastest player [Valerie Still] to reach that mark in program history.
With two successful seasons in the books, Howard hopes to take her game to another level with more experience.
“Sophomore Rhyne Howard wasn’t a secret so everyone knew what I could do, they had all seen it before. I had to be more aggressive and in attack mode, rather than just going through the motions. I hope junior Rhyne Howard is out of this world.”
While basketball is on her mind, Howard’s top priority is reuniting with her teammates in Lexington. She can’t help but hurt for the seniors who had their careers come to an abrupt end due to COVID-19 canceling the NCAA tournament.
“I’m ready to see my teammates. We all miss each other so much, and I love just being able to goof with them. Just being with them and having that second family is great. I miss that. Everyone was kind of devastated when the season ended, but I was more so sad for my seniors because I know that’s not the way they wanted things to end, and they wouldn’t be able to put that jersey on again. I was sad for myself as well, but I get to come back.”
Howard is coming back with not only individual goals but team goals for the program. She wants to make it to a Final Four and win a national championship before her Kentucky career ends.
“I think we have the team and the talent to do it. Everyone wants the same thing, so it’s definitely achievable for us.”
Howard will enter 2020-21 as the top-ranked player by ESPN and a favorite to win Naismith Player of the Year.
“It is a reflection of how hard I’ve worked. For me to be number one now, it’s to show the people who doubted me in the past years that I am capable of being number one, I’m capable of being great and I will never stop working until I am at the top.”
