Mark Pope’s Kentucky Wildcats made another trip to the NCAA Tournament this year. They were eliminated in the second round by the Iowa State Cyclones and may now have to deal with player exits.
Collin Chandler, who joined the program in 2024, is rumored to be looking at other options. As per BigBlueBud, a Kentucky basketball page, “BYU is making a significant effort to poach Collin Chandler from Kentucky.”
The page claims that BYU has been trying to poach Chandler for a while.
If BYU succeeds, it will be a major blow to Pope’s team. In his second season, Chandler averaged 9.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.2 steals per game.
After the loss to Iowa State, Chandler said he was motivated to get back to the NCAA Tournament and make a deeper run, although he didn’t specify whether it would be for Kentucky.
“I’m hungry to come back. To be back in March Madness, to win more. Right now the loss stings, I’m motivated to get back to a game like this,” he said.
Mark Pope on Why His Team Lost in March Madness
Following the loss to Iowa State, Mark Pope reflected on what went wrong for his team.
“We didn’t get to play the way that we planned to,” he said. “We didn’t get to play with the personnel we planned to. And all of that changed. I think our guys raised up and they made the very, very best of a complicated, difficult situation roster-wise and health-wise, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Kentucky will hope to make a strong run in the NCAA Tournament next year, and Pope will hope to do it with Chandler still on the roster.
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