Kentucky officially announces addition of Collin Chandler

Kentucky has been working overtime to put together a new roster for their first season under Mark Pope. That team will now officially includes Collin Chandler, one of his committed freshman from while at BYU, with today’s announcement from the program.

The Wildcats shared the news on Chandler in a release and through social media posts on Monday. They welcomed Chandler to Lexington as the first official, new addition to the team and freshman in their recruiting class.

“Kentucky men’s basketball head coach Mark Pope announced Monday the addition of guard Collin Chandler to the Wildcats’ 2024-25 roster,” the release read. “Chandler is a 6-foot-4 guard from Farmington, Utah, and was ranked among the top 35 recruits in the 2022 class.”

The release also includes words from Pope as well as from Chandler.

“Collin Chandler is one of the most talented high school players in the country. He has a silky-smooth jumper, a slippery ability to get to the rim, an explosive burst and the most impressive of all, he has incredible processing speed as he reads space and time and makes plays on pure instinct,” said Pope. “Collin is the definition of a servant leader. He, on his own desire and expense, chose to leave basketball and his life to go and serve people in Africa and Europe for two years. It won’t take long for every Kentucky fan to feel his heart and his love for others. I absolutely cannot wait to coach a man and player like him.”

“Growing up, my biggest dream was to play against the best players in the world,” said Chandler in his commitment. “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.”

Chandler is a product out of Farmington High School in his hometown. He was a four-star prospect there as the No. 36 overall recruit in the 2022 cycle. That’s according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He also rated as the No. 6 CG in the class as well as the top player out of Utah.

However, Chandler is just now arriving in college basketball after serving a two-year mission. He’s coming back to the court now, though, and will have four years of eligibility remaining upon his arrival.

Chandler joins Kentucky’s’s recruiting class last week, which, after several departures, has fallen from No. 2 to No. 45 in the nation. That’s per On3’s 2024 Industry Ranking Basketball Team Recruiting Rankings. The class still includes Travis Perry, a four-star, Top-100 prospect. He was the top player out of Kentucky this cycle and is the state’s all-time leading scorer.

Kentucky also earned a commitment from Drexel’s Amari Williams on Sunday. With that said, his decision is still pending in the sense that he’s still going through the process for the 2024 NBA Draft.

Following the departure of John Calipari, Kentucky’s roster essentially imploded with players leaving for the draft, in the portal, or through decommitments. Now, after some early work on the recruiting trail, they’re back up to two, if not three, players with Chandler now fully in the fold.