Collin Chandler is ahead of the curve in return to court. ‘He’s going to be dangerous.’

In our In the Spotlight stories, Herald-Leader journalists bring you continuing coverage of news and events important to our Central Kentucky community. Read more. Story idea? hlcityregion@herald-leader.com.

In one sense, every player on this Kentucky basketball team is starting from the same place.

They’re all first-time Wildcats, after all. And no matter how much previous college seasoning they brought with them to Lexington, there’s not anything quite like the experience of being a UK basketball player.

If anyone has a leg up, it’s Jaxson Robinson , the leading scorer at BYU last season and the only player on the 2024-25 roster that has played for new head coach Mark Pope in the past.

Of the 11 other scholarship Wildcats, the UK player who knows Pope best is Collin Chandler , who was supposed to be BYU’s top recruit for the upcoming season before the coaching carousel stopped with Pope in Lexington, leading Chandler to flip his commitment to the Cats.

But Chandler brought his own unique circumstances to town.

Relatively speaking, he’s barely touched a basketball in the past two years.

Chandler arrived in Lexington for summer workouts just a few weeks removed from completing a two-year Mormon mission abroad. The bulk of that time was spent in England, where the 6-foot-5 guard said he was able to find a gym a few times a week for light shooting and workouts. His mission began in the west African country of Sierra Leone.

“That was a little bit different,” Chandler said. “I don’t think I saw a basketball hoop — or a basketball — for the two months I was there.”

The freshman later corrected himself, saying that he actually packed an inflatable basketball for that trip so he could “dribble around the house” a little bit. And while he was able to get up shots in England, there were no competitive games and zero expert instruction for the two years he was gone.

For a star recruit — ranked No. 33 nationally in the 2022 class — with realistic dreams of playing in the NBA someday, it was quite an adjustment.

“I’ve always loved basketball, but when something is taken away from you … or you focus on something else, it really makes you feel how much you actually do love basketball,” Chandler said. “And I think that has been a big realization for me the past two years. And now coming back and playing again has just (reinforced) how much I love the game of basketball and how much it makes me happy.”

Adjusting to UK basketball

Obviously, this has been a period of change for Chandler.

Pope, however, has helped players navigate this process for more than a decade.

Kentucky’s new leader was an assistant at BYU when he landed his first head coaching job at Utah Valley before returning to Provo as the Cougars’ head coach four years later. During his time at those places, Pope — along with assistant coach Cody Fueger , who followed him to Lexington — worked with players returning from Mormon missions on an annual basis.

“We’ve done this a lot,” Pope told the Herald-Leader shortly after taking the UK job. “We’re really good at this.”

At that time, Pope laid out his “ramp-up” plan for Chandler , which included forcing him to go “way slower” than he would want to in his return to the court. The process includes an 8-12 week period of transition back into competitive basketball, and Chandler is nearing the end of that stretch now.

He said Tuesday that he started playing some five-on-five in the past week or so, and he was able to get to that step just in time to scrimmage against the La Familia TBT team — featuring former UK players like Eric Bledsoe and Willie Cauley-Stein — last week in Rupp Arena.

Chandler’s eyes lit up as he talked about that experience. He credited the “amazing” work of new head strength coach Randy Towner and senior athletic trainer Brandon Wells with getting him back to game shape and said his cardio is still a work in progress. Chandler has been playing those five-on-five sessions in short bursts and has the responsibility of pulling himself out of the workouts when he gets winded.

“Coming back and doing the thing that I love and then not being able to fully do what I want to do, right? I want to be out there with the guys,” he said of the ramp-up process. “But something that I’ve been working on with this is patience. And trusting the timing of coming back and make sure that I do it right. And so that’s been rough.

“But now that I’m here, I’m glad to continue to get better every day.”

He’s apparently progressing at a better-than-usual rate.

Pope and Fueger aren’t the only ones in the gym who have seen this process play out.

Robinson has observed it, too.

UK’s star transfer played two seasons at BYU before coming to Lexington, and he compared Chandler’s progress to some of his former teammates during a one-on-one interview with the Herald-Leader.

“Yeah, I’ve seen it plenty of times,” Robinson said. “Collin’s picking stuff up quickly. I haven’t seen anyone else move as fast and learn as fast as he is right now, when it comes to the ramp-up. So it’s been cool to see — just him figuring it out and being able to learn everything so quickly. Because it’s a lot of information, and he hasn’t touched the basketball a lot in two years. So, yeah, it’s pretty impressive to watch.”

Four of Robinson’s teammates during his first season at BYU were returning missionaries, including Dallin Hall and Richie Saunders , who played key roles for the Cougars right off the bat and were among the best players on Pope’s Top 25-caliber team last season.

Robinson said Chandler is getting re-acclimated to the game more quickly than any player he’s seen go through the process, and that’s surely a good sign for his prospects this coming season. The veteran college player has also been taking it upon himself to help the freshman on and off the court.

“I feel like I put an arm around Collin all the time just to give him a little advice,” Robinson said. “Whatever it may be. He comes and asks me for stuff all the time, just trying to figure out what’s going on. And it’s been good. Like I said, he’s learning really fast. So he’s going to be dangerous, for sure.”

Perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that Chandler is coming along so quickly. In addition to being an elite prospect — he was Pope’s top-ranked commitment during his tenure at BYU, one of the top recruits in the program’s history — Chandler earned the reputation for being a “gym rat” in high school .

That trait has made the process of slowly getting back up to speed all the more challenging.

“It would be tough, but he did it for a great reason,” Robinson said. “He went and served other people, which I think is amazing. Kudos to him. I don’t know how he did it, not touching a basketball. ... Collin’s a great human being, and I think it shows just him being able to give up the thing that he loves most, besides his family and his Lord.

“It’s been tough for him. But he knows that he’s just trying to get himself back right, and there’s no rush to it. So I think he’s had a great response about the whole situation.”

From BYU to Kentucky

Even though he wasn’t in the country at the time, Chandler will go down as the very first recruit of the Pope era .

He flipped his commitment from BYU to Kentucky while still in England, four days after Pope was officially hired as the Wildcats’ head coach and with a couple of weeks still left on his mission.

The whirlwind nature of that process — Pope wasn’t even known to be a serious candidate for the job until a few hours before he agreed to take it — was obviously felt by few as much as Chandler, who had been committed to play for BYU for two and a half years at that point.

“So it was something where you envision your life looking (one way) — it changes. Really fast,” he said. “But that’s something that I’ve learned in the last few years of my life and moving around from country to country is rolling with the punches and making the best out of everything. And obviously coming here is something that kids can only dream of. And it’s something that I’m so excited for.”

Chandler was viewed as a legitimate NBA draft prospect before leaving the United States for his mission. Until league scouts get an updated look at him, there will be questions about how that time away from the game might affect his development, but he apparently returned an inch or two taller and has clearly made a quick impression on his teammates.

Former San Diego State standout Lamont Butler , who has emerged as an early leader on this UK roster, had high praise for the freshman in an interview session Tuesday afternoon.

“He came back with a vengeance,” Butler said.

The 22-year-old recalled a dunk Chandler had earlier that day.

“It was nasty,” he said with a smile. “Collin’s getting better every day. This is his first year playing in a while, so I’m excited for him. He’s going to just continue to grow his game and get better.”

About two months into his time in Lexington, the college freshman is more than ready for what’s next, even if it wasn’t what he originally envisioned.

Chandler played his high school ball in Farmington, Utah — less than an hour from Provo — and was all set to settle in close to home after two long years abroad. His arrival at BYU was highly anticipated, but he ultimately decided on a different path.

“Staying home is something that’s cool — to have your family around you — but when it comes down to it, my dreams are to play with these guys. To play with the best players possible, and I felt like Kentucky gave me that opportunity. And to play for Coach Pope is something that I’ve looked forward to for those years that I was committed to BYU. I wanted to learn from him. I love the way he thinks about the basketball game. And so I want to be able to eat up everything that he can teach me.

“And that’s what made the decision to come to Kentucky — my decision — what I felt like I needed to do.”

‘He can do all of it.’ Andrew Carr brings all-around skill to Mark Pope’s first UK team.

Mark Pope is looking for UK basketball recruits. Here’s what’s ‘super important’ to him.

‘We’re going to surprise a lot of people.’ Mark Pope’s first Kentucky team built to defend.

Practice takeaways? Early surprises? UK basketball players talk about their new teammates.

UK basketball reveals jersey numbers for 2024-25 season. See the number for each Wildcat.

UK basketball has had just one NBA Rookie of the Year. Will Reed Sheppard be the second?

With college commitment looming, UK recruit Jasper Johnson looks to end AAU career on a high