Collin Chandler feeling 100% after offseason hamstring tweak

Collin Chandler went a long time without playing basketball. It was natural to expect that his ramp-up after two years on a Mormon mission would come with a hiccup or two.

And unfortunately, that’s what happened. Last month, Kentucky men’s basketball head coach Mark Pope first mentioned Chandler’s minor offseason setback. Even though the ramp-up process was slow-played from the beginning (Pope has plenty of experience coaching basketball players right after their long missions), some sort of problem was bound to arise.

Pope didn’t go into details at the time, but Chandler explained on Tuesday what happened.

“I had a tweak in my hamstring that took a little bit (to recover from),” Chandler told reporters ahead of Kentucky’s preseason opener against Kentucky Wesleyan on Wednesday. “It wasn’t super terrible, but it’s just kind of a nagging injury that takes a little bit of time to come back and to heal. There was a little bit of time where I had to let it heal.

“But it came in at a good time when I feel like the team — we were on break for a little bit and then went through a little bit of a ramping process as we came back to campus. I didn’t feel like I missed too much, which I’m grateful for and I’m grateful to be back now.”

For those curious about the exact timeline, that “break” came back in early August. The entire team took some time away (over two full weeks) from basketball at the Joe Craft Center to spend time with their families and loved ones before returning at the end of that month and diving right back into workouts. So Chandler isn’t exaggerating when he said the hamstring injury came at a good time — even if he had to go through another ramp-up process that wasn’t always easy to deal with.

Luckily for Kentucky fans eager to see the freshman (who is two years removed from high school) in action, Chandler added that he’s back to feeling 100 percent. If you don’t believe his word for whatever reason, his Dunk Contest victory at Big Blue Madness (where he jumped over both Mark and Lee Anne Pope) and impressive 19-point showing at the Blue-White Preseason Event should help settle your nerves.

Pope has preached patience to Chandler during this entire process. Some days were easier than others. Pope’s system requires well-conditioned athletes; which can be difficult while playing on a bum hamstring. The mental aspect of not playing for two years only to see an injury pop up was surely worse.

But all of that is behind him now.

“Starting to get my legs under me a little bit,” Chandler said of how he’s feeling physically. “Trying to just be aggressive to feel the game out, because it’s been a while since that (ramp-up). Just trying to get a feel and I feel like that’s coming back and I feel very comfortable on the floor and going after our guys. I’m feeling good.”

A healthy Chandler will make his preseason Kentucky debut against Kentucky Wesleyan on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. EST on the SEC Network+.

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