Checking in with the mystery men of UK basketball. ‘The best I’ve felt in a long time.’

Every face is new on this Kentucky basketball team. Every scholarship player on Mark Pope’s first roster started from scratch as a Wildcat upon arriving in Lexington four months ago.

But for two of those UK newcomers — Koby Brea and Collin Chandler — preparations for the 2024-25 season started slow. As their teammates got to work at the beginning of summer practice, Brea and Chandler — expected to be two key players on this Kentucky squad — did more watching than they would have liked.

During the Wildcats’ annual media day Tuesday afternoon in the Joe Craft Center, they were wearing two of the brightest smiles in the building.

“I’m feeling great,” Brea beamed. “I think this is probably the best I’ve felt in a long time. I’m just super excited to finally be out there — be 100% of myself, and just be out there with the guys and be in front of BBN and doing what we love to do.”

A few feet away, Chandler’s smile was just as sincere.

“I’m just excited to be playing again,” he said. “That’s where a lot of my joy comes from is competing with my brothers out on the floor. So I’m just glad to be doing that, being healthy.”

For both players, health has been a question since arriving in Lexington.

But they both say they’re good to go with the start of the 2024-25 season now fewer than four weeks away, that home opener against Wright State — the first real game of the Pope era — on the calendar for Nov. 4.

Those declarations will be welcome news to UK basketball fans who have grown accustomed to wringing their hands over injury reports this time of year.

Last October, all three of John Calipari’s young big men — Aaron Bradshaw, Zvonimir Ivisic and Ugonna Onyenso — were sidelined, their debut dates still undetermined. (None of them ended up playing until December.)

The October before that, it was reigning national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe who was hurting. He ultimately missed only two real games, but the UK star didn’t quite look or play like himself for much of the season, his knee injury lingering.

Previous preseasons during the Calipari era featured similar question marks.

The beginning of the Pope era appears to be headed for a much smoother start.

Koby Brea’s outlook

Brea — a 6-foot-7 guard from Washington Heights, New York — spent the past four seasons at Dayton and has battled injuries for much of his time in college basketball.

He played his sophomore season through pain and was ultimately diagnosed with stress fractures in both of his legs, an injury that persisted into his junior year and later necessitated surgeries that landed him in a wheelchair for several weeks.

When he committed to Kentucky — picking the Cats over a list of finalists that also featured Duke, Kansas, North Carolina and two-time reigning NCAA champion UConn — he had already decided to ease into offseason practices, watching much of UK’s summer session from the sidelines.

“Oh, it helped a lot,” Brea said of the self-imposed load management. “And it just goes to show the confidence that the coaches have in me. Just whether we had to take some time off or not, they were going to back me up with it.”

Brea added that he was “super appreciative” to the strength and training staff for their care since he’s arrived, and — for a player who didn’t get to practice at all over the two previous offseasons — spoke joyously of his health going into his final season of college basketball.

And now that he’s had more time to work within Pope’s offense — heavy on 3-point shooting, which is Brea’s calling card — the 21-year-old is eagerly awaiting the start to the season. The night before media day, he was making 3-point shots from all over the Memorial Coliseum court as part of the program’s Pro Day event , showcasing his shooting ability for the dozens of NBA scouts in attendance.

Arguably the nation’s top 3-point shooter heading into this season — Brea shot 49.8% from deep with 100 makes as a senior at Dayton — he feels he’s found the perfect fit to suit his game.

“It’s been super fun. I’ve enjoyed it,” Brea said. “Both ends, really, just seeing how well and how fast we play. You get to see it in practice, like, ‘Man, this style is really going to get the defense tired.’ And that’s going to help us on the other end, as well. You know, they’re not going to be able to run their offense the way that they want to. … It’s just been a lot of fun for me.”

Collin Chandler’s return

The other relative unknown heading into this season is Chandler, a 6-5 freshman guard from Farmington, Utah, who was ranked as a top-40 recruit in the class of 2022 but hadn’t played organized basketball in more than two years when he arrived in Lexington.

Chandler spent that time on a Mormon mission abroad — starting in Sierra Leone and ending in England — and he came to UK knowing he would begin his college career on a strictly regimented ramp-up plan overseen by Pope, who had plenty of experience with players in similar circumstances during his nine seasons as head coach at BYU and Utah Valley.

So while Chandler was able to participate in basketball activities right off the bat, he didn’t get to do everything until a few weeks into the Wildcats’ summer session, putting him a bit behind his teammates. Pope recently disclosed that Chandler had suffered a minor setback that sidelined him further, and the UK freshman said Tuesday it was a hamstring problem that took “a few weeks” to get back to normal.

Chandler looked to be close to 100% during Kentucky’s Pro Day showcase Monday night, pushing the ball up the court in transition, bombing 3-pointers and attacking the rim for dunks.

Before Chandler’s most recent setback, Jaxson Robinson — who played for two seasons under Pope at BYU and observed several teammates go through the same ramp-up process — said Chandler had worked his way through the transition more quickly than anyone he’d seen .

Robinson repeated his respect for the freshman Tuesday afternoon.

“Man, I love that kid,” he said. “His game — he’s gonna be really good, and he soaks things up really fast. I think he’s learned a lot in a short amount of time, but he’s picking it up very quickly. So when his time comes, it’s gonna be scary.”

Chandler said the most difficult part of the process — once he got fully integrated into the team — was the level of competition after such a long time away from the sport.

“Coming back to a bunch of guys who have been playing who are aggressive,” he said. “And that’s, I think, just what it’s going to be like at Kentucky. The expectation is high, and so we’re going to get everybody’s best game. But that’s the best thing that I’ve found about being here and experiencing it is these guys are tough. I mean, we’ll kick, we’ll fight, we’re going to fight back at what everybody gives us. And so that’s what I’ve felt. And what’s excited me about being here is the competition that these guys bring. And so it’s been the best experience.”

One of Chandler’s first full practices took place in Rupp Arena, where the current Cats had a joint session with the La Familia squad of former UK stars training for the TBT over the summer. The building was pretty much empty that day. On Friday night, he’ll get his first real taste of Rupp, which will host the first Big Blue Madness of Pope’s tenure.

“I have never been a part of something like that, and so I’m very excited,” Chandler said, still smiling. “And I have no idea what it’s going to be like, and so I’m just excited to experience Rupp Arena for the first time. … I’m just excited to experience the atmosphere.”

Chandler was set to be Pope’s top-ranked recruit ever at BYU — and one of the most-celebrated freshmen in program history — before the coaching change prompted him to change course and become Pope’s first Kentucky commitment instead. He spoke Tuesday of the shared and stated team goal of a national title in year one of this new era of UK basketball.

“That’s our expectations — what we talk about every day,” he said. “That’s everybody’s expectation around here.”

After a spring, summer and fall filled with starts and stops, Chandler is eyeing the future as one of the most intriguing players on this Kentucky roster.

He’s already impressed his older teammates.

“I mean, Collin is special,” Brea said. “Just because, it’s not easy to take two years off of basketball, when you’ve been doing it for so long. And then just come right into college and play against people that have been playing for a long time. It just shows that he’s really good with being patient and stuff, because it didn’t come for him on day one. It’s been a little rough. But then, with time, you started to see flashes, and you’re like, ‘Oh, man, he’s coming. He’s coming back.’ And every day, he’s just getting better and better.

“And it’s been fun to see it, because early in the summer, obviously, I was on the sidelines, and I had to see what was going on. And to see him now, and being on the same court with him … and just seeing how much he’s grown has been a lot of fun.”

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