Kentucky basketball fans aren't talking enough about this freshman guard

This Kentucky player will have a bigger role than many imagine.

The Wildcats' mascot played to the crowd during Kentucky basketball's Blue-White scrimmage tipped off at Northern Kentucky University on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023. / Jeff Faughender/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Kentucky Wildcats are getting ready for the 2024-25 off-season, and the player with the most to gain between now and the start of the year is Collin Chandler.

Chandler is set to be a freshman this season despite being on a two-year mission trip, meaning he is quite old for a freshman. This means that if he is a player who sticks around for a while, he will be older, which would be great for his play on the floor and leadership.

The Kentucky guard recently talked about the process he is going through to get back into basketball shape, and he calls it a ramp-up. In a recent interview, Chandler talked about how it is going well, and he is getting back to being himself on the floor.

Hearing from other players and coaches, they seem very impressed with Chandler's play to this point.

The guard is a freak athlete, and he is going to play a role for the Wildcats this season. Some recent NBA Mock Drafts have Chandler going in the first round, so he is a player with that type of upside.

Chandler is going to play more of a role for Kentucky this season than many imagine, and he could be one of the most important pieces off the bench for Coach Pope.

Kentucky Athletics sent out this quote from Coach Pope about Chandler and who he is as a player and a person.

“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. 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.”

- Mark Pope