Rhyne Howard, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 WNBA draft by the Atlanta Dream, was announced as the league’s Rookie of the Year on Thursday.
Howard received 53 of 56 votes from a media panel and is the first overall selection to win the award since Las Vegas’ A’ja Wilson in 2018.
The Dream made a trade with the Washington Mystics for the No. 1 pick, and it paid off when Howard, a 6-foot-2 shooting guard from Kentucky, immediately broke out on the pro level.
Howard averaged 16.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.6 steals in 31.3 minutes in 34 starts, leading all rookies in points, assists, steals and minutes per game. She was third in the league in 3-pointers with 85, a single-season record for a WNBA rookie.
Howard was selected as an All-Star and set rookie records for the Dream franchise in total points (552) and rebounds (154). She is the second player from Atlanta to win the top rookie honor, after Angel McCoughtrywho was also a first pick, in 2009.
The other people who got votes for the Rookie of the Year award were No. 2 pick NaLyssa Smith of Indiana (one vote) and No. 3 pick Shakira Austin of Washington (two votes). Howard, Smith and Washington were joined on the rookie team by Chicago’s Rebekah Gardner and Indiana’s Queen Egbo.
