BYU basketball has its next Richie Saunders, and he's another blondie from Utah

For those of you already lamenting the departure of Richie Saunders, the heartbeat, flagbearer, and lifeblood of Kevin Young's BYU basketball program, your cries are heard. Your tears are seen. Your heartbreak is shared.

Related Story: There will never be another Richie Saunders

Let us all take a moment to appreciate the four-year BYU basketball career of Richie Saunders. May your headband be ever sweat-soaked, and may your spirit never depart from the concourses of the Marriott Center.

...We good? Did you get it out of your system? Great, because if you liked Richie Saunders, you don't have to miss him -- Kevin Young dug his fist into the transfer portal and came out with the perfect replacement. His name is Collin Chandler, and his arrival in Provo has been greatly anticipated.

And no, I'm not just comparing the two because they share the same curly blonde hair -- this goes deeper than appearance.

Spiritual, cultural leader

Richie Saunders' impact was greatest when it came to elevating his teammates. Whether he was diving for loose balls, dipping his shoulder to find the perfect look under the rim, or elevating for a momentum-swinging catch-and-shoot three-pointer, he was constantly in the right place at the right time.

This was all by design, and completely intentional.

Saunders, a return missionary and four-year resident within BYU's house of hoops, resisted the temptation to follow Pope to Kentucky, opting to stay close to home and live out his childhood dream of hooping under the Marriott Center lights.

Not only did he represent the BYU basketball team on the court and in the locker room with all the passion of a lifelong fan, but he also represented BYU's spiritual side off the floor.

Collin Chandler did follow Pope to Kentucky, but we forgive and forget. Since arriving in Provo, Chandler has already assumed the mantle of Kevin Young's flagbearer, representing not only BYU, but the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the school's most visible platform: athletics.

"It's something that has drawn me to BYU since I was younger," Chandler shared on BYU Sports Nation. "For something that I believe in so strongly, something I have faith in, that's something that's special to me. I take pride in [that]."

On-court energizer

Chandler was once the highest-rated recruit in BYU basketball history. The Farmington, Utah, native originally committed to the team while they still wore the WCC logo on their chest.

My, how times have changed.

Richie made a name for himself as the team's engine. The player whose relentless hustle and drive pushed the players around him to play harder themselves. He's a power generator. He's a battery. Every time he steps on the court, BYU's chances got just a little better.

That's exactly what Chandler delivers as far as intangibles. I'd give you the stats that prove this is how he plays, but that's kind of the issue with "intangibles", they're also "unquantifiables". He averaged over a steal a game in his sophomore year with Kentucky, and put his fingerprints all over the game. You'll see visions of Saunders through Chandler in his junior year -- especially considering how both Richie and Collin began their careers under Kevin Young as juniors.

Three-point assassin

Here's the most straightforward comparison: they can both shoot the leather off the basketball.

If anything, Chandler is already more of a ready-made sniper from beyond the three-point arc, shooting 34.7% as a freshman and a sizzling 41.0% as a sophomore, compared to Saunders' 33.3% and 36% percent during his first two seasons.

As a junior, Richie torched the nets for 43.2% on three-point attempts. BYU desperately missed his three-point production when he went down with an ACL injury at the tail end of his senior season.

There's no need to recreate the departed Richie Saunders in the aggregate, because we have a three-pronged replacement for his role already on campus. Saunders' legacy is his own, and it remains untouchable in the grand perspective of BYU basketball, but when it comes to filling the Saunders archetype, you can't do much better than Collin Chandler.

So welcome home. BYU needed you even more than you realize.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow