Mar 28, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Collin Chandler (5) dribbles the ball against the Tennessee Volunteers in the first half during a Midwest Regional semifinal of the 2025 NCAA tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Kentucky's 2025-26 roster holds the most underrated player in college basketball

Originally posted on Kentucky Wildcats on SI
By Andrew Stefaniak | Last updated Sep 9, 2025 12:15 PM ET

Most Kentucky fans believe the most underrated player on the 2025-26 basketball roster would be the Tulane transfer Kam Williams, but over the last few weeks, a new name has entered this debate. That name is sophomore guard Collin Chander.

Coach Pope posted some highlights on X this week that showed just how good Chandler is going to be for the Wildcats this season in his second year of college basketball.

A lot of Kentucky fans are forgetting that Chandler was a highly ranked recruit out of high school when he committed to play for Pope at BYU, but he was gone for two years on a mission trip, which kept him away from competitive basketball.

Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

After getting to Lexington last season, it was clear that Chandler would need some time to adjust to the speed of college basketball, and his first few games weren't the best. Over the course of the season, Chandler got more and more used to the speed of college basketball and eventually became a go-to guy for Coach Pope in the NCAA Tournament.

As a 6'5 205-pound guard, Chandler can play all over the backcourt. He is a freak athlete but can also handle the basketball at a high level. Now that Chandler has a deep understanding of the Pope system, he can run this offense, and this will give the Wildcats an excellent guard off the bench.

The starting backcourt for the Wildcats will likely be Jaland Lowe, Otega Oweh, and Denzel Aberdeen, but Chandler will come off the bench and do whatever Coach Pope needs from him.

Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

There is a good chance that Chandler will be the backup point guard behind Lowe, which will give Jasper Johnson and Kam Williams a lot of opportunities to shoot the basketball.

On top of being a solid facilitator and ball handler, Chandler is also an excellent defender, and this will make it really easy for Coach Pope to stick him on the other teams' best guard and say don't let this guy score.

Chandler is a player that many expect to be in Lexington for a few years, but he does have some NBA upside, and potentially, after the 2026-27 season, he could be a player taken in the NBA Draft.

No college basketball analyst is talking about Chandler heading into the upcoming Kentucky basketball season, which is why he is one of the most underrated players in the nation.

This article first appeared on Kentucky Wildcats on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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