Kentucky men’s basketball coach Mark Pope talks to the media about Collin Chandler after the Wildcats’ 76-57 win over Troy in the NCAA Tournament on Friday, March 21, 2025, in Milwaukee. By NCAA| John Clay
Just a few minutes after winning his first NCAA Tournament game as a head coach, Mark Pope sat on a podium in Milwaukee last month and reflected on one of the players that got him there.
By that point, Collin Chandler’s story was well known, his struggles well documented.
The freshman guard from Utah had been the first commitment of the Pope era of Kentucky basketball, pledging to the Wildcats while still an ocean away as he wrapped up a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Chandler — a highly touted recruit before heading overseas — had barely touched a basketball over those two years, and his transition back to competitive play went about as expected. For most of the season, he didn’t play much. In some big games, he didn’t play at all.
But his scoring flurry in that NCAA Tournament victory over Troy — nine points in less than two minutes to turn a two-possession game into an eventual UK rout — was a continuation of what he had shown over the month or so that preceded it: plenty of promise for the future.
Kentucky fans had watched Chandler struggle on the court. They’d watched him sit the bench. Finally, on the biggest stage there is, they got to see him go off.
What Pope wanted to talk about that night is what most of them never got a glimpse of.
“What we don’t see along the way — and this is super special to me — but we don’t see all the quiet moments in the Wildcat Lodge, where he’s by himself, wondering if this is ever going to work, and did he make the right decision,” Pope said. “Or the times he rolls out of a game, and the team has won a huge, huge game and he didn’t get to play and so he’s battling, within himself, the emotion of like, ‘I have to celebrate with my team, and I’m dying inside that I’m not contributing.’”
Those moments happened.
“I think that is kind of human nature to evaluate — and sometimes overevaluate — where you are in your position,” Chandler said in an interview with the Herald-Leader.
“So I would say I definitely went through that. There’s a lot of questioning of, ‘Did I make the right decision? Am I where I’m supposed to be?’ But I’ve always had a reassuring feeling that I am where I’m supposed to be. And so that has helped me to be patient and to trust that that’s where I was supposed to be. And that it’s all gonna work out.”
It worked out fine for Chandler by the end of his freshman season. And when it came time to decide where he would spend his sophomore year of college, the decision wasn’t too difficult.
The NCAA transfer portal closed for new entrants last week. Chandler’s name wasn’t on the list. A few days before the deadline, the Utah native made it clear on social media that he intended to return to Kentucky for a second season. The decision had been made long before that.
But it didn’t come lightly.
Chandler, who turned 21 in February and would be a college senior next season if not for the church mission, was known as someone wise beyond his years even as a high schooler.
He knows the reality of the current college basketball landscape — with ample opportunities at high-profile places for anyone willing to hit the transfer portal — and everyone who follows the sport should know by now that where players play is something that is constantly being evaluated.
His evaluation concluded that he belonged in Lexington.
“I wouldn’t say I ever seriously considered entering the portal,” Chandler said. “I mean, there’s a time where you have to reflect on what’s best for you and your life. And what God’s plan is for you and your life. And so that reflecting time for me and for my future wife — we felt that our hearts are in Kentucky, and that is where we want to be.
“And so that was really, I’d say, pretty clear for us as we were thinking about what our life is going to look like. That was kind of the picture that we felt was painted for us.”
Kentucky guard Collin Chandler gets a hug from UK coach Mark Pope during a game this past season. Chandler will return to the Cats for his sophomore year.
Kentucky guard Collin Chandler gets a hug from UK coach Mark Pope during a game this past season. Chandler will return to the Cats for his sophomore year.
Amid his on-court struggles last season — he scored just two points total over one span of more than two months, sitting out six games completely — Chandler never wavered in his allegiance to Pope.
And Pope, who was obviously asked during that stretch about Chandler’s lack of playing time, never stepped back from his declaration that the freshman would eventually become a key contributor.
“I feel like the heart and soul of me and Coach Pope’s relationship is believing in each other,” Chandler said. “And obviously I believe in Coach Pope and what I feel like he can do as a coach for the team, but also for myself individually. And I do think that he believes in me and will put me in positions to grow and show trust. And I felt that throughout the season.
“There were times where he didn’t feel like I should be out there. And then there were times that he would give me opportunities to show my growth and to grow as a player. And so that’s what I felt. And so I continue to believe I’m going to grow and that he’s going to put me in positions to do that. And so I’m excited for this upcoming year and for a lot more growth.”
Pretty much as soon as this past season ended, Pope started having one-on-one conversations with his players, including, of course, those who were eligible to return to Kentucky.
Chandler will join Brandon Garrison and Trent Noah, at the very least, as returnees for Pope’s second UK roster. They could be joined by Otega Oweh, who led the Wildcats in scoring this past season and is going through the NBA draft process this spring.
Pope’s first team — one stacked with seniors — advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, the furthest the program had advanced in March since 2019. All things considered, that was viewed by most reasonable observers as a success.
But Chandler, Pope and the others affiliated with UK basketball have loftier aspirations for the future, and that’s been evident in the player-coach conversations over the past month or so.
“Well, it’s definitely a reflective time, right?” Chandler said of his recent talks with Pope. “A time of gratitude for what we were able to do together.
But also a lot of it is looking forward to what we need to keep chasing, which is a national championship. So that’s what we talked about. And what he sees me as, and what I need to be working on to contribute even more to the team. And I feel like that was mostly what those meetings consisted of — kind of talking about and keying in on what I need to work on individually.”
Chandler specifically mentioned improving as a ball-handler and working in screen situations as areas of focus this offseason. He mentioned the return of Garrison, the arrival of McDonald’s All-American center Malachi Moreno, and the presence of other talented, versatile players as key ingredients for a team that sounds like it’ll be utilizing screens even more next season.
“So feeling comfortable and creative in that way is going to be big for me and all of our guards moving into next year,” he said.
Chandler was a deadly 3-point shooter over the final stretch of his freshman season. In UK’s final seven games — the last six against teams that made the NCAA Tournament — he shot 12-for-23 (52.2%) from deep and averaged 6.3 points in 16.6 minutes per game.
Extrapolate those numbers, and Chandler would have made 60 3-pointers over a course of a 35-game season. Koby Brea and Jaxson Robinson, both departing seniors, were the only Cats that hit more than 40 3-pointers last season.
Chandler also improved considerably as a defender from November to March, gaining confidence on both sides of the ball along the way.
“I feel like it all kind of came little by little,” he said of his all-around progress over the course of the season, eyeing his return to Lexington in a few weeks and the excitement of a full, normal offseason before he begins his sophomore year.
Collin Chandler emerged late in the 2024-25 season as a key bench player for the Kentucky Wildcats.
Collin Chandler emerged late in the 2024-25 season as a key bench player for the Kentucky Wildcats.
Future with Kentucky basketball
Chandler spoke to the Herald-Leader last week from his home in Utah. By the time he’s back in Lexington, the Kentucky Wildcat will be a married man.
The next few days will be spent wrapping up his spring semester online and preparing for his wedding. Chandler and his fiancée, Hannah, are getting married next week. The couple attended school together back in Farmington, Utah, and were engaged during the Kentucky basketball team’s trip to New York last December.
After the wedding, they’ll spend about a week on their honeymoon in Hawaii, and — not long after that — they’ll be back in Kentucky to start the next chapter of their lives together.
Hannah has been studying at the University of Utah — she has one more year of courses to complete her degree and plans to finish those classes remotely from Lexington — but she’s no stranger to Kentucky.
Chandler said she traveled to Lexington every month — sometimes more often than that — during the basketball season.
“She really likes it,” he said. “And I think for us, for her, the change of scenery of living in Kentucky is something that she looks forward to and is excited about.”
The players on the 2025-26 roster are scheduled to arrive on campus in early June, with summer practice starting up soon after that.
Pope and his coaching staff have assembled a roster that has drawn rave reviews nationally, a group ranked in the top 10 by several major outlets and one that will take legitimate NCAA title hopes into the 2025-26 campaign.
The group of newcomers will feature five transfers — Florida guard Denzel Aberdeen, Pittsburgh point guard Jaland Lowe, Tulane wing Kam Williams, Alabama forward Mouhamed Dioubate and Arizona State post player Jayden Quaintance — plus three college newcomers: five-star guard Jasper Johnson, Croatian power forward Andrija Jelavic and Moreno, a Central Kentucky native who spent ample time around the UK team this past season.
Last spring, all 12 scholarship players were new to the Wildcats’ program, but that 2024-25 group bonded quickly, a dynamic that all involved said led to more success on the court.
“It was really fun last year — when we got there in the summer — to all be there and learn the offense and learn each other,” Chandler said. “So there’s a sense of excitement for that again, to learn to play with new guys. And every team comes with a different dynamic. So I’m excited to experience that again.”
From freshman to leader?
Chandler spoke excitedly about the wealth of perimeter talent on this UK roster. He said he’d already been watching video highlights of his future teammates and looked forward to getting on the practice floor with them and forming chemistry in the backcourt.
He also expects to be a leader next season. While Chandler will be classified as a sophomore, he’ll be two years older than a typical player with that designation, and he obviously has the experience of playing for Pope.
“That’s definitely needed, I would say, for our team — is the guys who have been there to take the reins to teach as fast as we can,” Chandler said. “Because that’s only gonna help us to all figure it out as fast as we can. And that doesn’t just come from listening to Coach, but it really comes from a player-led team. So me, Trent, BG — O, if he ends up coming back, is going to be huge.
“And I think that I’m a very vocal person, so that is a part of my game that I hope to continue to grow is my voice. And to have an effect that way. And I feel like the experiences that I have with our team and with last season can help. And so I think I, as well as a lot of other guys, have to step up in leadership. And I’m excited about that aspect.”
It was a little more than a year ago that Chandler switched his commitment from BYU to Kentucky, taking the same leap that Pope had a few days earlier. With that decision, Chandler officially became the first player to commit to the new era of Kentucky basketball.
Nearly a year after that, Chandler played a major role in Pope’s first NCAA Tournament victory as a head coach. The first, they both hope, of many more together.
“It’s just this beautiful process that these guys get to go through,” Pope said after that win over Troy last month. “And the guys that keep going, that keep going, that keep going — like Collin Chandler — they get this moment. And he’s got so many more moments ahead of him. He’s going to be a terrific player.
“To be able to kind of bear witness to that and mentor and shepherd these guys through that process is really special. And the guys that hang in there and keep going at the end of the road mean something more than any of us probably recognize, because we weren’t in all those dark, doubting moments that the player’s gone through to kind of get there. And fighting to keep your confidence and the whole process. I actually love it. I think it’s super inspiring.”
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