It can also apply to those who come back.

Collin Chandler never actually played for the Cougars, though he committed to Mark Pope and BYU back in 2021. After serving a church mission to Sierra Leone, Chandler followed Pope to Kentucky, where he played the past two seasons.

On Saturday, Chandler posted on social media he was “coming home” with a graphic where he is wearing a BYU uniform. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard entered the transfer portal last week and immediately speculation was that he would come to Provo.

Chandler’s basketball story picked up steam at Farmington High School, where he was a three-time first team All-State performer. He was named Utah’s Mr. Basketball in 2022, averaging 21.7 points per game for the Phoenix. Chandler also made a name for himself on the AAU circuit and was invited to the NBPA Top 100 Camp, where he was among the top performers along with Jalen Bradley, who was the Big 12 Player of the Year at Arizona this season, and Keyonte George, now with the Utah Jazz.

At Kentucky, Chandler improved from 2.7 points per game his freshman season to 9.7 as a sophomore, starting 31 of 36 games. He was also among the 3-point shooting leaders in the SEC at 46% during league play.

Adam Finkelstein, Director of Scouting for 24/7 Sports, wrote this about Chandler: “Collin Chandler is 22 years old and maintains two full years of NCAA eligibility. He’s an excellent shooter who made 83% of his free-throws and 41% of his threes, on just under 5 attempts per game, this year at Kentucky. He’s not just a valuable floor-spacer, but also an extremely dangerous shooter off the dribble, who connected on 48% of his pull-up threes this year, making him very dangerous as a pick-and-roll threat on the second side of the floor. Chandler is a bouncy vertical athlete who can rise-up to finish with authority on the break. He’s a high-feel player with good ball security who boasted a better than 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

“At BYU, Kevin Young plays with real pace and space. They’ve ranked 9th and 12th overall in adjusted offensive efficiency in his two years at the helm of the program. Nearly 48% of their total shots came from behind the arc in 2025, before AJ Dybantsa’s arrival, and last year they finished among the top 25 fastest offenses in the country. The bottom line is that he Chandler should be a terrific fit at BYU.”

Chandler is the same size as graduating senior Richie Saunders and has a similar skill set. Saunders thrived in Young’s system, earning first team All-Big 12 as a junior and averaging 18 points a game as a senior until going down with a knee injury late in the season.

The Cougars have had six players enter the transfer portal and four other are out of eligibility, with freshman sensation AJ Dybantsa expected to declare for the NBA Draft. It is still possible BYU could retain one ore more of the players who are currently in the portal. Freshman center Xavion Staton committed to Oregon State on Friday but Robert Wright III, Tyler Mrus, Kennard Davis Jr., Dominique Diamonde and KJ Perry are still evaluating their opportunities.

Along with Chandler, newcomers also include highly rated freshmen Bruce Branch III and Dean Rueckert