The one who got away ... is coming back home.

Collin Chandler, once the Cougars’ prized recruit, is returning to Provo after two years at Kentucky.

The former four-star prospect will anchor head coach Kevin Young’s pace-and-space offense. Chandler became known as a knock-down 3-point shooter last year, hitting 41% from deep and averaging nearly 10 points per game.

Young needed more shooting after last year’s first-round NCAA Tournament exit, spoiling AJ Dybantsa’s All-American season.

“It’s the holy grail,” Young said.

Chandler originally committed to BYU under former coach Mark Pope in 2021. After serving a two-year mission, Chandler followed Pope to Kentucky. At the time, BYU’s program was scrambling just to find a new identity with Young.

But since then, Young has guided multiple NBA lottery picks in Egor Demin and Dybantsa. He has signed future lottery picks like Bruce Branch III. The support Chandler had in Lexington will be matched in Provo.

It doesn’t hurt that he will be stationed just about an hour away from Farmington, where he grew up.

BYU always wanted its homegrown star.

A long, winding mission is fulfilled.

The Wright stuff

After the Cougars’ NCAA tourney exit, point guard Rob Wright told television cameras that he would either stay at BYU or turn.

That turned out to be true.

But not without some drama.

Wright tested the market to see how much money he could get. BYU tried to sign Wright around tournament time this year, but couldn’t agree on a number. The Cougars didn’t want to overspend on a point guard and leave the rest of the roster beholden to one player. Last year, the team struggled with depth.

But if the money was reasonable, BYU was willing to work with Wright to be an offensive focal point next season.

That appears to be the case.

Wright withdrew from the portal and announced his return to Provo this week.

“Rob is the best point guard in college basketball,” Young said in a news release. “He is poised to lead our team as the floor general and help be an extension of our staff. I’m looking forward to continuing to coach Rob and help him develop his game.”

One schematic note: The Cougars don’t want an offense that looks like last year. The spacing was poor and the scoring was heavily concentrated in Dybantsa, Wright and Richie Saunders. So Wright’s game might need to look a little different next season.

Other news

Many players from last year’s roster are on their way out. Dominique Diomande is going to Pitt. Xavion Staton is off to Oregon State. Tyler Mrus, Kennard Davis and Aleksej Kostic will all find a different roster next year.

The good news for Young is he will have a largely blank canvas to fill in his system.

It will be a new look for BYU.

But at least two familiar faces are on their way home.