Let’s Talk Collin Chandler

Photo: Jennifer Chandler Farmington

Hector Marquez November 10, 2020 @ 10:32 AM

In the past few years Utah has produced some stellar basketball payers that have showed their flashes of greatness while they were in high school. Just this past year you had Fremont’s [player_tooltip player_id="543042" first="Dallin" last="Hall"] (BYU) who was absolutely deserving of the viral videos because he was a dog in high school. You have absolute floor generals like Olympus’ Ryland Jones (Utah) who was a walking triple double. We can go back to 2015 and Frank Jackson’s (Duke/New Orleans Pelicans) out of this world high school career at Lone Peak. These are just the guards we are mentioning. We are not here to compare to Collin to any of his predecessors but we are here to say that he has game. Putting in Work Last season Collin scored 18 points a game as he was coming off of a year when he was injured. 18 a game as a sophomore is impressive, especially with a strong schedule and region. There are players that took advantage of the quarantine and there are people like Collin that put in major work. While a lot of students suffered with the new form of learning Collin maintained his Ivy League type grades and added so much to his game. You can see the maturity in his game and his hunger and thirst to push his body to the limits to get the most out of it. You will see a player that has now embraced playing defense and will seek out the other teams best players to try and challenge them and make it difficult for them to score. Although Collin has a slender frame he is strong and has a lot of strength and explosiveness in his legs. His first step has increased in speed nd he is using angles to use his body to shield off defenders. He literally gets better every time he steps on the floor. [player_tooltip player_id="934472" first="Collin" last="Chandler"]’s work isn’t just against local talent in showcases, he is getting on a plane and seeking the best competition and he is showing out. If he is not at a showcase he is at a local gym working on his craft or training with someone working on some new tools he can use or simply perfecting his game.   Evolving While some players game stays the same with few notable changes, they all seek to evolve their game to take them to the next level. Players often specialize in some things and then there are those special players that can do it all. let’s start with the BBIQ portion that we have seen take a different turn. Collin went from attacking the rim when driving from the perimeter to assessing the defense and taking what they give him. That includes taking 15 foot jumpers and floaters. He has also increased his athletic ability and has grown a bit so he is taking off earlier to play above the rim as he is showing less and and less fear. Collin can not only bring the ball up as a serviceable PG, he can run the point at a high level. He reads the defense well and is a major threat when he has a pick set for him. He can take the weakside and beat his defender to the rim or hit a high percentage close to the rim pullu-up. he can take the screen and find passing lanes and make some impressive passes to his bigs. When he sees the defense collapse he hits that 15-foot pull-up. Changing speeds is often a challenge but Collin has really learned when to use a change of steep and he is now getting a lot of balance under him on his shot and stepback. On breaks if he is not rebounding himself he finds lanes to be visible to rebounders looking for an outlet. He is also running the floor to get to his spots or ahead of defenders to get up an easy scoring opportunity.   What’s Next It seems as if Collin has really increased his stock by adding to his game in every aspect. With offers from Utah, Dixie State and Stanford look for Collin to continue to attract teams from the Pac-12. If Collin continues to shoot well he will be a tough pass for anyone. He has been shooting the ball with some accuracy. He can spot up shoot and come off of screens, he can also dribble into an open shot. Collin is best when hei s given the freedom to create as he can make the right decisions. With a few more muscle pounds Collin will really have an upper hand against his peers. With the way things are going and the progression we continue to see don’t be surprised if one of the Blue Bloods comes calling. He is currently inside the Top 100 in the country at #80 and he will continue to rise.