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BB Recruiting

Mark Pope Lands First Kentucky Commit, Four-Star Collin Chandler

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2022 4-star recruit, Collin Chandler

And the first domino falls! Collin Chandler, bright and early Tuesday morning, announces his commitment to UK.

Chandler is a former BYU commit, recently released from his BYU commitment, and now Chandler will join Coach Pope at UK, according to Travis Branham. Not only is this Coach Pope’s first commitment in his tenure at UK, it’s also a major one. Chandler is a projected NBA player, and the highest-rated recruit to ever commit to BYU.

Collin Chandler, 2022 4-star combo guard

Chandler is a 4-star recruit from the 2022 class, a 6’4 do-it-all guard. 247Sports had Chandler rated as the #33 player in the nation, and the #6 player at his position in the 2022 class. Chandler has spent the last 2 years – since HS graduation – on his mission for The Church of Latter-day Saints.

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Want reason for excitement? Chandler was the #6 rated combo guard in the 2022 class. The 5 players ranked higher: Nick Smith (1st round draft pick), Cason Wallace (lottery pick), Amari Bailey (NBA, 2nd round pick), JJ Starling (Syracuse, potential 1st round pick), and Jalen Hood-Schifino (#17 overall NBA selection). So of the 5 players ranked ahead of him, 4 are currently in the NBA and the 5th is on his way. So by these metrics, Chandler is a future NBA combo-guard that belongs in Pope’s system.

Just the first domino to fall…

Now that Chandler has made his commitment to Kentucky, expect other announcements to soon follow. Pope has “his guy”, and now he can assemble a full roster with that in mind. BBN should expect a couple of transfers from BYU to follow, and some Portal movement by the end of the week as well.

My take on this situation: BBN has been a little restless with how quiet it’s been on Pope’s recruiting. The Portal is full of talent, and rumors of players dying to play at UK have been circling. But yet, no announced commitments from anyone. Collin Chandler is the highest-ever recruit to commit to BYU in the program’s history. I think Pope wanted Chandler to be the first announcement, the first domino to fall. As far as recruiting, Chandler is Pope’s shiniest jewel, the highest touted recruit he ever landed at BYU. Pope, playing the “PR” game here, wanted Chandler to be the headline commitment of his era at Kentucky. And for me, personally I love it.

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BB Recruiting

Top Recruit Cancels Visit to John Calipari and Arkansas, Kentucky the Perceived Leader

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Chet White | UK Athletics, Nelson Chenault | Imagn

Recruiting. That was Mark Pope’s biggest criticism at BYU and in just six months he has calmed most of those worries. In addition to recruiting thirteen guys in a little over a month for his first team, he has signed three top 30 prospects for the 2025 class, including two five stars, as Kentucky sits third overall in the recruiting rankings.

Now, it looks like Pope is nearing his first top-10 prospect, besting John Calipari and Arkansas.

Caleb Wilson, a 6-9, 205-pound wing from Atlanta, cancelled his visit to Arkansas for the second time on Thursday and is not expected to reschedule. In a recent interview with Jack Pilgrim, Wilson had less-than-ideal things to say about the Razorbacks.

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“I really have never considered or thought about Arkansas before Coach Cal went there,” Wilson said. “I’m not really in tune with the school. I never thought I would be interested in Arkansas. I never knew anything about them. I never knew they were in the SEC until like a year ago.”

Meanwhile, Wilson was in attendance for Kentucky’s win over Duke on Tuesday.

The recruitment for Wilson has been interesting. Wilson was heavily considering Kentucky when Calipari was still the head coach, attending the 2023 Big Blue Madness, and many thought that would carry over with his move to Arkansas. Towards the end of the grassroots circuit, it was clear that wasn’t the case.

That is when Kentucky started making a strong push for Wilson, with the primary competition being North Carolina. When Wilson visited Lexington in September it vaulted them to the top of the list and they have continued to carry that momentum in the weeks since. A NIL offer upwards of $2 million doesn’t hurt either.

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A final list for Wilson is expected to be released soon, with a decision coming by mid-January. You should really like Kentucky’s chances, and what a statement it would be to get a commit over Calipari and another over North Carolina (Malachi Moreno and Jasper Johnson).

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BREAKING: Four-Star PG Acaden Lewis Commits to Kentucky over Duke and UConn, “You Can’t Beat What They Are Doing”

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2025 four-star point guard prospect Acaden Lewis has announced his commitment to Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats.
UK Athletics

It’s a good start to the weekend as Kentucky basketball has picked up a commitment. 2025 four-star point guard Acaden Lewis from Washington, D.C., announced his commitment to Kentucky on Saturday afternoon, picking the Wildcats over Duke and Connecticut.

Funny enough, during an unofficial visit in Lexington back in June, Mark Pope joked with fans that Lewis was committing to Kentucky. While Lewis didn’t commit that day, Pope was able to seal the deal a few months later.

Why Kentucky?

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“It felt like a community. Pope, he was in the hood with me. He came to my barber shop and everything. It felt like a home. Felt like somewhere I should be. The system is great.”

Lewis joins five-star commits Malachi Moreno and Jasper Johnson in Kentucky’s class, and helps bolster the Wildcats’ class ranking up to second, only behind Duke. Both players recruited Lewis to join them, with Moreno joining him for part of his official visit to Kentucky back in October, including being featured in his photoshoot. Shortly after the visit, Lewis said in an interview about Kentucky, “You can’t beat what they were doing.”

While Moreno and Johnson were big recruiting victories, they were both players from Kentucky. This is Pope’s commitment from outside of the state, and he went up against the bluest of blue bloods in Duke, UConn, and North Carolina.

Now, can Lewis help Kentucky close the deal on consensus top 10 wing Caleb Wilson? The two have expressed a lot of interest in playing together, and Wilson is aiming to make a decision by December, with Kentucky as one of the two leaders.

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Scouting Report

Lewis is a lefty lead guard who is extremely talented with the ball. He has soft hands and natural touch that are the foundation of a very advanced skill set. His handle is tight, he’s a lay-up maker with both hands, and he has soft floaters and tough pull-ups alike in the mid-range area. While Lewis connected on just 31% of his threes during EYBL play, he’s a much better shooter than those numbers indicate. He made 83% of his free throws, attempted nearly 7 threes per game, and projects as someone who not only has gravity spotting up but can be a movement shooter as well.

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Malachi Moreno Helping Kentucky Recruit Top 2025 Point Guard

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Five-star Kentucky commit Malachi Moreno is helping the Wildcats recruit one of the top point guards of the 2025 class Acaden Lewis.
UK Athletics

This past weekend was a big moment for Kentucky basketball, as the first Big Blue Madness of the Mark Pope era took place. In years past, the event has hosted multiple five-star recruits and this year was no different.

While the guest list was smaller due to USA Basketball junior mini camp, the Wildcats had two top recruits in attendance, 2026 five-star Anthony Thompson and 2024 four-star combo guard Acaden Lewis.

The latter is one of Kentucky’s biggest recruiting priorities in the 2025 class and was also on campus for an official visit as he prepares to make his college decision in early November. To help was five-star commit, Malachi Moreno.

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While Moreno couldn’t make it to Big Blue Madness, he was able to meet with Lewis during his visit on Thursday and even took part in his photo shoot, as the pair posed together in Kentucky uniforms in Rupp Arena.

It helps to have a five-star commit just down the road to help recruit. Could we see the pair play together next season at Kentucky? Things are trending in that direction, but time will tell.

Also published on A Sea of Blue.

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