Photo Credit: Collin Chandler Instagram
A lot of Kentucky fans have been chomping at the bit waiting on the first commitment under new head coach Mark Pope to be announced. Today, they got their wish.
Collin Chandler, who was once committed to BYU, has flipped his commitment from the school to the University of Kentucky to follow his coach.
Chandler was rated as the number thirty-three overall recruit in the class of 2022 coming out of high school. The 6'4" shooting guard from Farmington, Utah was recruited by several other big-name programs in 2022 before committing to Pope’s former program, some including Utah, Stanford, Creighton, Arizona, Oregon, USC, and Gonzaga.
When the former four-star prospect chose to attend Brigham Young University he had in mind plans to participate in a two-year mission trip to London, England for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, pushing back his debut to college basketball. Good news is, he'll be finished with that trip on May 2nd with sights on starting his collegiate career.
Entering next year's season, he'll be twenty-one years old going into his freshman year of basketball. This delay from the mission trip also means that he'll have four more years of eligibility left, which is a something that for fourteen years didn't really matter about recruits for our program. It sure does now.
In Chandler's senior season of high school he averaged 21.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.7 steals per game. This was good enough to earn him the Utah Gatorade Player of the Year award in 2022. From very early on in Chandler's recruitment he was able to establish a good relationship with Mark Pope. This is part of the reason why Chandler chose the Cougars over Utah, which was Chandler's favorite school growing up. He’s now doubling down and showing his commitment to Mark as a coach, coming to Kentucky as well.
When asked about his decision to commit to Kentucky, this is what Chandler had to say.
“I am grateful for Cougar Nation for taking me in as family from day one and supporting me in a precious time of my life. I have been blessed to be able to experience such a passionate and loving fan base. I am especially grateful for Coach Pope and the mentorship and trust he has given me from the very beginning,” Chandler wrote in a statement to 247Sports.
"This journey has already taken me to places I could never have imagined. Growing up, my biggest dream was to play against the best players in the world. I am beyond grateful to be given the opportunity to do just that. Through the past couple of days, the path I had before envisioned has been blurred. After talking with my family and many prayers, this vision has become clearer than ever. I am humbled to get the opportunity to continue this journey at the University of Kentucky! Go Wildcats!”
We now have the first Wildcat under the helm of the new coach, filling in where exiting recruiting class set up by the former coach has left abruptly wide open. He’ll join Travis Perry as the only two new faces to the roster as of today, along with any returning players from last year’s roster.