PROVO — After two years at Kentucky and two more on a church mission, Collin Chandler is headed home.
The 6-foot-5 guard who prepped at Farmington High will return to his home state and commit to play at BYU, he announced Saturday on Instagram.
Chandler, who spent two seasons playing for former BYU coach Mark Pope at Kentucky, has two years of eligibility remaining. The combo guard who was named Utah's Gatorade Player of the Year after scoring 1,587 points with 135 3-pointers, 328 rebounds, 229 assists and 105 steals for the Phoenix originally committed to BYU out of high school.
But when Pope took the same position at his alma mater in Lexington, Chandler — who was serving a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in London, England, at the time — returned home and opted to follow his coach.
He saw time in 30 games as a true freshman, but found his form as a sophomore when he scored 9.7 points per game on 43.5% shooting including 41% from 3-point range in 27 minutes, while adding 2.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.2 steals for the 22-14 Wildcats. Chandler started 31 of 36 games as a sophomore, finishing second on the team in steals en route to the Wildcats' second-round appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
in a post Thursday night on Instagram, Chandler thanks Pope, the Wildcats' staff, and the fanbase at Kentucky known as Big Blue Nation for "welcoming me into your family with open arms," and supporting him for the past two years.
"You will always be family to me," he wrote, before adding, "I am returning home and excited for the work and challenges ahead."
— collin chandler (@collinchand13r) February 8, 2026
The former finance major at Kentucky is the first transfer commit of the 2026-27 season for BYU, which has seen at least six players enter the transfer portal led by starting point guard Robert Wright III and wing Kennard Davis Jr.
With Richie Saunders and Keba Keita graduating and AJ Dybantsa an expected top pick in this summer's NBA draft, the Cougars will look to replace all five starters and several rotational pieces from the 2025-26 season.
Players are not bound to leave upon entering the transfer portal, which closes April 21. But unless one of the outbound transfers returns to Provo, BYU is currently projected to return just 9% of last year's scoring.
Utah transfer portal tracker
Changes coming to men's basketball in Beehive State
Here's a look at how transfers are impacting each Division I school in the state of Utah, according to Verbal Commits (unless otherwise noted). This list will be updated over the next 15 days of college basketball's unofficial "free agency" period.
