Collin Chandler’s journey at Kentucky has not always been easy but he’s always found a way to persevere.
He went on a two-year mission trip after planning to play for coach Mark Pope at BYU and then followed the coach to Kentucky last season. He needed time to adjust to playing basketball but slowly regained his skills to become a part of the playing rotation before the season ended.
The learning lessons have continued this season.
“Basketball is a huge mental game and can be hard. Against Nicholls I didn’t get off to the greatest start and then I sat on the bench for a long time. If felt like forever,” said Chandler. “It was a good time for me to think about what I wanted to do when I got back in. I think that was good for me. It’s a good experience to have when things aren’t going well and just think about making the simple play because at times I over complicate things.”
Chandler said his ball handling came back the slowest of any skill after his two-year basketball hiatus and continues to improve daily.
“I don’t know if I can compare my handle to what it was before, but there’s definitely still room for improvement. That’s one thing I’ve had to work really hard at getting back and getting better,” Chandler said. “It can limit getting to your spots, so I had to improve my handle and that has helped both me and my teammates.”
The strongest part of his game is easy — shooting. He was 4-for-6 from 3-point range in UK’s loss at Louisville and has made 25 of his last 45 3-pointers going back to last season.
“I am shooting the ball well right now, which has been big for me and my teammates because it has opened the floor for the offense,” Chandler, who has played both point guard and two guard this season, said. “The big thing with shooting is to feel comfortable. There’s a lot going through your mind and your body with adrenaline. You can shoot as much as you want in practice but it is different when it comes to games, so comfort level is a big thing. The more I play, the more comfortable I am feeling.”
Chandler made “little tweaks” to his shooting form after his mission trip. He led Kentucky in 3-pointers made (13) and 3-point percentage (.565) this season going into the Michigan State game. He’s also fourth in scoring (11.3 points per game).
“I had a bit of a fade on my shot in high school where I was leaning back a lot. I worked with coach (Mark) Fox a lot last year to jump and lean forward on my shot,” Chandler said. “Now it just feels normal and I don’t even think about it that much. I don’t have to get a lot of shots. As soon as I see one go in, that is usually enough to get me going.”
He also made a personal tweak over the summer — he got married. He said then he thought that would make his basketball life even better because of the stability his wife would add to his life.
“Like I said before, I don’t think anything’s changed. Things have been great, and especially now with the season here and the pressures and the outside noise that that brings in,” the UK sophomore said. “Having someone to help me deal with that, that’s been the greatest help not having to deal with it alone.”
Chandler admits he’s at his worst when he’s left alone whether he’s had a good or bad day.
“Talking about it and having something to help you when you need to get away from basketball is such a great help,” Chandler said. “She’s more comforting and will tell me it is gonna be okay. I’m fairly hard on myself, so I don’t need her to beat down on me because I do that already. She’s great for providing comfort when I need it. I don’t know that I have helped her that much. In fact, I’m sure I have brought a lot more stress into her life than she probably ever wanted.”
One problem Chandler does not have is what fans and media might be saying about him.
To be honest, it’s been a while since I’ve been keeping up with the media and what they’re saying about me, so I’m not totally sure what people are even talking about,” Chandler said before UK’s loss to Louisville. “I found out pretty quickly” that I didn’t want to hear a lot of the noise. I don’t need to hear it because we talk about things every day in practice with our coaches and we are very detailed about what we are wanting to accomplish. I think that’s all I need in my head is what we’re trying to do as a team.”
