Advertisement

‘Carry that load.’ AP names former Kentucky star Rhyne Howard WNBA Rookie of the Year.

Nobody can accuse Rhyne Howard of not meeting expectations.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 WNBA Draft out of the University of Kentucky was named the league’s Rookie of the Year when postseason awards were announced by The Associated Press on Tuesday afternoon.

From start to finish, Howard not only made an impression in the box score but in the win-loss column.

Howard’s team, the Atlanta Dream, remained in playoff contention until the WNBA’s final day of the regular season on Sunday and its 14-22 record represented a six-victory increase over last season. Eight of the league’s 12 teams qualified for the postseason. The Dream wound up 10th — one game out of the final playoff spot.

“Rhy put us on her back and made a statement for herself and the organization and franchise,” said Atlanta’s Tanisha Wright, who became the first former WNBA player to win the AP Coach of the Year award on Tuesday. “Carry that load and do it with the grace and poise she did it with, I’m super proud of her and her accomplishments.”

Howard, a near-unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year, averaged 16.2 points and 4.6 rebounds this season. She contributed 24 points, four rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a blocked shot in Sunday’s season finale, an 87-83 loss to the New York Liberty, in which she made five three-point baskets.

Howard, who was named a WNBA All-Star as a rookie, started all 34 games in which she played this season, averaging a team-high 31.4 minutes per game. Her 552 points scored were more than 100 beyond anyone else on the Dream.

Howard was at the forefront of a major culture change in Atlanta. A change in coaches, ownership and front-office personnel energized the franchise, which now plays in front of crowds double the size of a year prior.

“Our team’s definitely higher-energy, we’re all about having fun,” Howard told Front Office Sports. “Whenever the crowd’s in it and they’re being so loud we can’t hear, it gets us more worked up and it gets us going even more.

“Like, everybody’s lit, let’s get lit, too.”

Howard starred four seasons at Kentucky, becoming the program’s second-leading all-time scorer with 2,290 career points. Three times, Howard was named First Team All-American by the AP.

Howard was the seventh player in UK history to be selected in the WNBA Draft, and the first pick from Kentucky since Evelyn Akhator and Makayla Epps were both selected in 2017.