Collin Chandler said Tuesday his life is "10 times better" now that he's married. (Colby Vaught Photo)
Collin Chandler had a little different offseason than his other Kentucky basketball teammates.
“I got married in the off season, so that took a lot of our time and thoughts. We took a honeymoon to Hawaii, so that was fun,” the sophomore guard said Monday. “Other than that, it was just playing basketball and being with family.
“It was good to be with my family. It was a good few months to be there with my family.”
Chandler said there was obvious “pressure” on his wedding day.
“I was a wreck, but it all went so good. It turned out, there’s nothing to be nervous about, but it was awesome,” Chandler, who took a two-year mission trip after high school before getting to UK a year ago, said.
Chandler says he obviously spends a lot of time talking with his wife, Hannah, and it is “more convenient” now that she lives in Lexington.
“I have somebody to go home to and talk to, so it has been great. I’m sure it will be great for me to have somebody to always be there, and another support system. She’s great, so it just makes my life 10 times better.”
I asked him if she was willing to go to the gym and rebound for him.
“She will. She’s very willing to always help me. Luckily, here we have a lot of people that will do that, but even when we do have people it was kind of fun sometimes to be in the gym with her,” Chandler admitted.
I also asked him if she knew enough basketball to offer advice about his game.
“Advice, I don’t know, but she rattles off some good knowledge. Every once in a while, she’ll come listen to practices and hear what the coaches are saying and she’ll pick up that vocabulary and we’ll talk about it. So it’s pretty fun that way,” Chandler said.
It’s also fun knowing what to expect since this not only will be his second year of college basketball but his second season under coach Mark Pope.
“I feel like I know my environment a little bit better now,” he said. “I was coming in a little bit blind last year of what to expect. Coming home as a missionary is a whirlwind, life changing, as well as playing basketball (in college) for the first time and then also playing basketball at a very high level. I didn’t really know what to expect or how to go about it.
“I feel like this year, in the offseason, I knew exactly what I’m supposed to be working on. I know what I can do. I have a lot of experience on the court for what I can do and things I can get better at. So, I think I have a lot better vision of what I need to do. I think that’s the biggest difference.”
Chandler averaged 2.7 points per game in the 30 games he played last season but got better as the season progressed. He had a season-high 11 points against LSU late in the season and is one of four returning players off last year’s Sweet Sixteen team.
He likes what he has seen from his new teammates even though the team’s first official day together was Monday.
“We have been here on campus for a good little bit and playing pickup, spending a lot of time together. It has been great and I’ve loved all these guys coming in,” Chandler said. “I feel like we’ve clicked very well.”
6 Responses
Chandler is another guy who will most likely only see mop up duty once SEC play starts. Most guys would have waited before going down that aisle, but Chandler may have come to realize that there is more to life than just playing basketball. I wish him the best with both.
Barry I think Chandler is Popes favorite player on the team. If you remember he played more than Noah and Perry and hadn’t played basketball in 2 years which is a long time to not work on your craft. You could see the rust fall off of him as the season went on. At the end of the year he looked like a starter for Kentucky. This years team is much better but I still think Chandler gets pt. Probably 10-12 mins a game.
I hope you are right Terry. Noah deserves that much PT as well. Pope has too many egos to feed. Minutes that are given to one guy are taken from another. I assure you that Lowe, Aberdeen, Oweh, Johnson, Dioubate, and Williams all want to be starters or get minutes equal to a starter. I don’t know how Pope is going to slice that pie, but I do know that 4 or 5 guys are going to go hungry; 2 or 3 could starve to death once SEC play begins unless injuries come into the equation.
I don’t care what anyone says being married is a major distraction. Unless you have the perfect marriage there will be fights and arguments and that stuff gets in your head. It causes problems. Unless she is the coolest woman in the world there will be problems. Or you spend to much time with the team and not with me. He has his whole life ahead of him. 21 is very young to get married. It can either be one of two things. She either supports him and helps him become a better basketball player. Or he she becomes a distraction and messes his basketball career up. Everyone forgets he probably makes between 500k and a million a year at Kentucky. Which is a incredible salary for someone who’s 55 let alone 21 plus he’s married. She could shop till she drops and cause problems financially which is usually the biggest problem in a marriage. I wish him well.
Chandler is my favorite player on the team. His high school tape reminded me of Rex Chapman. He plays above the rim and has unlimited range. If he doesn’t get pt he will transfer back out west to Utah or BYU
A Mormon divorce is exceedingly rare – they’re all about family. He’ll have two kids before he leaves UK – they multiply like rabbits. Heard an interview with Johnny Miller recently – he has something like 55 grandchildren – he was asked “ what’s the name of your most recent Great grandchild – he answered Palmer Nicklaus “ !