BYU’s men’s basketball roster is starting to look a lot more familiar again, and Collin Chandler is right at the center of that shift.
Chandler, the former Farmington High standout, spoke with reporters earlier this month and made it clear why he ended up back in Provo after two years at Kentucky and a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sierra Leone and England.
“I loved my time in Kentucky, (but) if I was leaving Kentucky, it was going to be to come home to BYU,” Chandler said of his decision to transfer.
That homecoming is part of a broader roster trend. BYU also brought in former Timpview High standout Jake Wahlin, who originally committed to the Cougars before choosing another path after his mission to Lithuania. The 6-foot-10 forward spent two seasons at Utah and then last season at Clemson before deciding to finish his college career with BYU.
Add Timpview product Dean Rueckert and Brooks Bahr, who recently returned from his mission service to Germany, and the Cougars suddenly have a group that looks much more like the program fans are used to seeing.
That stands in contrast to last season, when BYU’s rotation included just one true local product in Richie Saunders, who played at Riverton and Wasatch Academy before signing with the Cougars.
Chandler looks like the headliner, and he has already made an impression in practice. BYU coach Kevin Young said what stood out first was the guard’s ability to create.
“I think what intrigued me about Colin was his ability to play with the ball in his hands as a playmaker,” said BYU coach Kevin Young. “I think he’s really good passer.
I think I think that he can do some things creation-wise that interests me, but just the play making on top of this shooting. He’s not obviously not the rebounder that Richie was, so they have some differences, but play-making along with the shooting is where we really got excited.”
Chandler arrives as a 6-foot-5 guard who averaged 9.7 points per game last season for Kentucky and shot 41% from 3-point range. At Kentucky, he was used mostly as a 3-and-D player, even though that was never how he pictured himself when he came out of high school.
“It’s kind of funny … my freshman year I was getting on the court to play defense, and I never thought I would ever say that my entire life,” Chandler said. “I was going on the court and chasing guys around screens … and then my sophomore year … I excelled in was shooting, and (that) really hasn’t been my thing my whole life, really.
But two things were things I feel like were things that I needed to work on out of high school, and so being able to to excel in defense and get better in my shooting is going to help me. So I think put that together with the other things in my game is what I can do here.”
At BYU, he is expected to spend much of his time next to returning point guard Rob Wright, with a larger ball-handling role than he had with the Wildcats.
Rueckert has also drawn praise from Young, who pointed to the 6-foot-8 forward’s motor, shooting touch and athleticism.
“He’s been super impressive with his motor,” Young said. “You could have him (practice) for 10 hours a day and he wouldn’t blink.
He’s been really impressive with his work ethic and I love his shooting - that was the thing that really drew me to him. But you’re also talking about a 6-foot-8 legitimate athlete as well.
So I think the sky’s the limit for Dean, honestly.”
Still, Young said patience will matter with younger players, and Rueckert may not see the biggest role right away.
“I’m super high on Dean, but with all young players you hope they understand the patience required to get to the level they can ultimately get to,” Young said. ” … But I’m really high on what I’ve seen from Dean so far.”
Wahlin comes in after playing 20 minutes per game for Clemson last season, where he averaged 5.3 points and shot 34% from 3-point range.
Bahr adds another piece as a 6-4 guard fresh off his mission, after previously being a highly recruited player at Keller High School in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
How all four fit together will take time to sort out, but BYU is heading toward the 2026-27 season with more optimism and a roster that feels much more like itself.