Collin Chandler announces he will return to Kentucky for sophomore season

Collin Chandler is back, the Kentucky guard announcing Thursday he will be returning to Lexington for a sophomore campaign in blue and white.

After a promising rookie season as a Wildcat, the 6-5 playmaker shared a message on social media making it clear he has no plans to explore other options this offseason. He’ll pick up right where he left off in the Kentucky backcourt.

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— collin chandler (@collinchand13r) April 17, 2025

Chandler finished the year averaging 2.7 points, 1.0 rebounds and 0.7 assists per contest while shooting 36.1 percent from the field, 34.7 percent from three and 86.7 percent at the line. His impact goes far beyond the season averages, though, closing out his freshman campaign as a real difference-maker on both ends of the floor.

He started the season scoring just 20 points through the end of January, seeing double-figure playing time just five times in that span. To close out the year? 10 games out of 11 earning 10-plus minutes while scoring 60 points and shooting 14-29 from three (48.3 3PT%). That’s not to mention his defensive presence, thrown in to lock down opposing team’s top offensive threats, picking up five steals in the NCAA Tournament alone.

When asked about his future immediately after the season, Chandler talked about his trust in Mark Pope and how he knew from day one that was the coach he wanted to play for — wherever that was.

“It’s a game of trust and I’ve known for a long time that I trusted Coach Pope and what he’s doing, his feel for the game. I trusted him,” he said. “When I committed, I didn’t know who was going to be here, but I felt in my heart that it was the right decision and this was where I needed to be. I still feel that way at the end of the season, I feel like this is where I needed to be. I needed to be in this place to learn the things that I did.”

The Kentucky guard was rated as the No. 34 overall prospect and No. 6 combo guard out of high school according to the 2022 On3 Rankings. A consensus four-star who took a two-year mission trip before starting his college basketball career, it’s always been about the long-term upside with a massive reward waiting for him once he found his footing.

After inching closer toward that in year one as a Wildcat, we’ll get to see the process through in year two. Collin Chandler is officially back — and there isn’t a member of Big Blue Nation that won’t be excited to hear that.

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