Rhyne Howard is rewriting the record books for the University of Kentucky women's basketball program, and her junior season in Lexington has yet to tip off.
Now the 6-foot-2 guard is the first player from the program to be honored as a preseason All-American by The Associated Press. Howard, from Bradley Central High School and Cleveland, Tennessee, was a unanimous choice by the 30-member national media panel on the team released Thursday.
The Wildcats standout was joined in the five-player lineup by sophomore Aliyah Boston of South Carolina, who was also a unanimous pick, and seniors Dana Evans of Louisville, Aari McDonald of Arizona and Michaela Onyenwere of UCLA.
All five players were honored this past spring on the AP All-America teams. Howard was a first-team selection, Boston, Evans and McDonald made the second team and Onyenwere was on the third team. However, none was on the preseason All-America team last fall, with Thursday marking the first time since the 2006-07 season there were no returning players on the squad.
Howard averaged 23.4 points and 6.5 rebounds and made 38.2% of her 3-point attempts last season, when she became the first player in program history to score 25 or more points in five straight games.
"Rhyne Howard was one of the best players in the nation last season, and after seeing how hard she has worked this offseason and preseason, I have no doubt she'll be in those same conversations this year," Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell said in a team release.
"What makes Rhyne so special is how she lifts everyone around her up. She is an exceptional person and player and very deserving to be Kentucky's first AP preseason All-American. I cannot wait to see what she has in store this season."
Kentucky's roster also includes two former standouts for Chattanooga's Hamilton Heights Christian Academy: freshman guard Treasure Hunt and junior guard Jazmine Massengill, who played her first two college seasons for the Tennessee Lady Volunteers and will sit out the upcoming season due to NCAA transfer rules.
The Wildcats reached the Southeastern Conference tournament semifinals this past March, finishing their season with a 22-8 record when the NCAA tournament was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Kentucky, ranked No. 11 in the AP preseason poll, has not released its 2020-21 schedule.
Two of Kentucky's losses last season were to South Carolina and Boston, a 6-5 forward who helped the Gamecocks sweep the SEC regular-season and tournament titles and earn their first No. 1 ranking in the final poll of the season. Expectations are high again for South Carolina, which this week earned its first No. 1 preseason ranking in the AP Top 25.
Boston, who averaged 12.5 points and 9.4 rebounds last season, has spent a lot of time during the pandemic working on her shot.
"I was skeptical at the beginning, but we got here and she's been making them ever since," said South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, who led the program to its lone national championship in 2017. "Aliyah's a great player. I can say that I can see it every day. You see great players get better and how they did it. It's unbelievable to me. Unbelievable how much better she's gotten."
Louisville's Evans (5-6), who averaged 18.1 points and 4.2 assists per game in 2019-20, turned down a chance to enter the WNBA draft to return for a final college season.
"Dana is an extremely talented player, but she put the time in the gym to get to where she is," Cardinals coach Jeff Walz said. "She really worked to improve her 3-point shot, but most of all she went from being an elite scorer to a true point guard."
UCLA forward Onyenwere (6-0) is the second player in program history to be voted a preseason All-American, joining Maylana Martin (1999-00). Onyenwere averaged 19.1 points and 8.6 rebounds last season.
"Competitive, consistent, athletic, still growing and totally selfless," UCLA coach Cori Close said of her star. "I believe she is an All-American and an obvious top-three draft pick. But even better than that, she couldn't care less. She just wants to play her butt off and help our team win."
McDonald is the first preseason All-American for her program, though current Arizona coach Adia Barnes did receive honorable mention in 1997-98 when she played for the Wildcats. McDonald averaged 20.5 points and 7.8 rebounds last season and has Arizona ranked a program-best seventh in the preseason poll.
"The first time I saw Aari she was in seventh grade, and I knew she had the potential to be great, but I wasn't sure if she understood that. I have watched her improve every year on and off the court, and it has been amazing to be a part of her journey," Barnes said.
"She has put this program on her back, has started a legacy here, and we would not be where we are without her. Aari is a leader in every sense of the word on and off the court, and she has evolved into one of the best players in the country."
The AP started choosing a preseason All-America team before the 1994-95 season. For the second consecutive year, the team does not have a player from Connecticut, Tennessee or Notre Dame, which has happened only once before - in 2005 and 2006.
Connecticut's Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Christyn Williams were among the players who received votes, though, with the others in that group North Carolina State's Elissa Cunane, Iowa State's Ashley Joens, Syracuse's Tiana Mangakahia, Baylor's NaLyssa Smith and Stanford's Kiana Williams.