Rhyne Howard earns WNBA All-Star honors during rookie season

Rhyne Howard has already lived up to some of the lofty expectations set for her as the No. 1 overall selection in the 2022 WNBA Draft, and Tuesday afternoon only brought more confirmation of her success.

Howard was named one of 12 WNBA All-Star Game reserves after the stellar start to her professional career.

Howard will be the first former Wildcat to take part in the WNBA All-Star Game.

So far with the Atlanta Dream, Howard has started all 19 of the team’s games and has shot 37.1% from the field and 35.3% from three-point range.

Howard is averaging 15.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game for the Dream, who already have as many wins this season (eight) as the team did all of last season.

The WNBA All-Star Game reserves were selected by the league’s head coaches, with coaches unable to vote for their own players.

Unsurprisingly, Howard also appears to be in pole position to win the league’s Rookie of the Year award.

Howard’s 15.6 points per game scoring average leads all rookies, as well as all players on the Dream. It ranks 13th overall in the WNBA.

Howard also averages 1.5 steals per game (the most among WNBA rookies) and her 47 made three-pointers are tied for fourth among all WNBA players.

Howard, the second all-time leading scorer in UK basketball history, was the only rookie selected to the WNBA All-Star Game.

In April, Howard made history by becoming the first women’s basketball player from Kentucky to go No. 1 overall in the WNBA Draft, and she spoke about her expectations for her first professional season.

“A goal is really Rookie of the Year, but I want to be part of a winning team. That’s the end goal,” Howard said.

She seems well on her way to both.

WNBA All-Star Game format, info

Similarly to the NBA All-Star Game, there’s an All-Star team draft that is led by captains on each team.

Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson and Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird are captaining one team, and Seattle Storm forward Breanna Stewart and Minnesota Lynx center Sylvia Fowles are captaining the other.

The rosters for the 2022 WNBA All-Star Game will be selected at 3 p.m. Saturday on ESPN.

The All-Star Game itself will be played at 1 p.m. Sunday, July 10, at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. The game will be televised live on ABC.