Rhyne Howard: How Kentucky Produced a No. 1 WNBA Draft Pick

Kentucky women's basketball opens 2026-27 at No. 14, its best preseason ranking under Kenny Brooks, with Clara Strack as its centerpiece. Before this team, though, the program's biggest star in the modern era was Rhyne Howard. She went from Cleveland, Tennessee, to Lexington to the top of the 2022 WNBA draft. Her path shows what Kentucky can be at its best.

**A Tennessee star who chose Kentucky**
Howard graduated from Bradley Central High School in Cleveland, Tennessee, in 2018 as Tennessee's Gatorade Player of the Year and Miss Basketball. She also played for USA Basketball in 2018 and 2019, winning gold and earning MVP honors in 2018, and played in the Jordan Brand Classic. Kentucky landed one of the best players in the country, and one from a state where the Lady Vols usually win recruiting battles.

**An instant impact**
Howard was good right away. As a freshman she made first-team All-SEC, was named SEC Freshman of the Year and won USBWA National Freshman of the Year. That started a run few Kentucky players have matched.

**Back-to-back SEC Player of the Year**
Howard was named SEC Player of the Year as a sophomore in 2020 and again as a junior in 2021. In 2021 she also made the All-SEC first team and the All-SEC Defensive Team. Heading into the 2021 postseason, she was the only player in the country averaging at least 19 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, with 40 steals and 70 assists. She did nearly everything on the floor for Kentucky.

**Record nights**
On Jan. 9, 2020, Howard scored 43 points at Alabama, tying Jennifer O'Neill's 2013 record for the most points by a Kentucky women's player in a game. On Jan. 27, 2022, she scored her 2,000th career point, becoming only the third Wildcat to reach that mark.

**No. 1 overall**
On April 11, 2022, the Atlanta Dream made Howard the first pick in the WNBA draft. She started every game as a rookie and averaged 16.8 points, 2.8 assists and 1.6 steals. She made the All-Star Game, was named Rookie of the Month every month from May through August and won WNBA Rookie of the Year. For Kentucky, it was proof that the program could develop a player to the top of the pro game.

**Still setting records**
Howard has kept improving as a pro. On Aug. 10, 2026, she became the fastest player in WNBA history to make 100 three-pointers in a season, reaching the mark in the Dream's 31st game. She also joined Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 league founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, in its first season.

**Why her game translated**
Howard's college numbers explain why Atlanta took her first. Few players at any level combine scoring, rebounding, steals and playmaking at the volume she did in Lexington. She was also an All-SEC Defensive Team pick, so pro scouts saw a player who could contribute at both ends from day one. Her rookie season proved it: she started every game and was the league's best rookie every month of the season.

**What it means for today's Cats**
Howard is the best answer when Brooks and his staff are asked whether elite players can become pros at Kentucky. Strack's preseason first-team All-SEC pick and projection as SEC Defensive Player of the Year show the program has another player capable of carrying it. Kentucky has always been a basketball school. Howard showed the women's program could produce a No. 1 pick too.

**Our Take:** Howard's résumé, with two SEC Player of the Year awards, a share of the school scoring record for a single game, 2,000 career points and the No. 1 overall pick, sets the standard for every Kentucky women's player who follows. The 2026-27 team doesn't need another Rhyne Howard to have a big season, but it's chasing the standard she set.

Sources: Wikipedia, Rhyne Howard · On3/KSR, Kentucky makes AP Top 25 preseason poll (Strack honors)