Chamberlain Burgess, a four-star local talent out of Orem High School and commit to Kevin Young's BYU basketball program, is listed on another basketball roster.
For those following the situation closely, you would be rightfully confused to learn this. After all, Chamberlain was a mission-first recruit, member of the university's sponsor religion, and relative to Chris Burgess, an assistant coach with the Cougars. He signed with BYU back in November of 2024, graduated in 2025, and is apparently back in the Beehive State to play collegiate basketball as soon as this year.
On Snow College's official team roster for the upcoming 2025-26 season, Burgess is officially listed with the team. Very little information has been shared about this publicly, so we're going to avoid speculating about what may be a sensitive subject. Presumably, however, it would seem that Chamberlain is already back from his missionary service, which he began in July.
Chamberlain Burgess, a 4-Star #BYU commit, is listed on Snow College’s current roster. pic.twitter.com/pch5JlCREp
— Lawless Republic (@LawlessRepublic) September 18, 2025
The reason for an individual to return home prematurely from a mission is personal, and certainly no concern to random strangers with no non-basketball connection to said missionary. Most importantly, it's entirely irrelevant to the situation at hand. There could be any number of reasons he didn't spend two years in a shirt and tie, but now he's back, and that's all we need to know.
But that leaves the question of what he's doing at Snow College of all places. He officially signed with the Cougars before graduating from high school, and it's hard to imagine he isn't on the team because they don't want him. No, a more likely scenario would be that Chamberlain's planned two-year absence left his roster spot open, and the Cougars reasonably filled that seat while he was gone.
BYU didn't anticipate Chamberlain's availability for this season, so instead of a one-year moratorium on competitive basketball, Burgess is keeping in shape and staying sharp with one junior college season in the meantime.
Keep in mind, this is speculation, and just drawing the simplest explanation of an irregular circumstance. Until more information is shared, there's just no way to know for certain.