Both Koby Brea and Collin Chandler have missed time throughout the offseason for Kentucky.

Brea missed the start of UK’s summer practice slate, while Chandler was sidelined for a few September practices.

Injuries have hampered the sharpshooting Brea throughout his college career.

Ahead of the 2023-24 season, he was unable let alone stand on his own two feet due to injury after he had rods inserted in both lower legs to address stress fractures in his tibias on April 6 of, 2023. 

“People don’t know much about the whole process last year,” Brea said in June. “The first two months (after surgery), I was in a wheelchair; I couldn’t do anything. Then, the next two months, I was on a walker and then crutches, so I literally came back for my first workout two weeks before the season, so I only had two weeks to really get some work in and get my body feeling like, right to a place where I can actually play.

“Then once the game started rolling, it kind of gets a little crazy, but I was able to manage it all.”

Brea eased into UK’s summer workouts with his injury history in mind. 

“A big part of why I backed out of the draft and everything and didn’t do a lot of my workouts was because I just wanted to make sure that I was completely healthy going into this new year,” Brea said. “It was kind of something that me and my agent talked about after the season, I wasn’t feeling too great. The conversations with my agent and my family were just like, ‘Let’s take a step back so we can take a couple of steps forward later on.

“We just took some time off to finally heal from my previous injury and I feel a lot better now, so I’m really glad that I did that.”

Brea has been a full participant in UK’s September and October practices, but his injury history makes him a player to monitor.

As for Chandler, he missed time banged up earlier this fall as he continues his ramp-up process after missing two years of basketball activities to serve a mission.

“He went to serve for two years and he sat down the ball for two years,” Pope told KSR in September. “With these guys coming off two-year service, , their on-ramp is incredibly, massively important and we have to go really slow. He kind of got into full action, then had a little setback and he’s almost fully back. 

Chandler has since returned to practice but will be another player to monitor from a health perspective.