Isaiah Collier was the No. 1 high school player in the country in 2023. Fifteen months later, 28 picks went by before anyone took him. In between came the death of a cousin he called his brother, a broken hand, and a losing season at USC next to the most famous freshman in America. Since landing in Utah he has taken a John Stockton record, put up the most assists by a Jazz player in 33 years on the night he nearly got traded, and lost big chunks of time to hamstring injuries. He turned 22 last week, and he's entering his third season as the backup point guard on a team that wants to win now.
Marietta, the Ducks, and Uncle Larry
Collier was born in Atlanta and grew up in Marietta, Ga., the son of Chandra and Dwain Collier. Football came first. Per Sports Illustrated, he was studying YouTube clips of his youth football opponents at age 6, then played running back and safety for the Atlanta Ducks, who won league titles every year from ages 8 to 12. His dad's favorite story:
"He'd know the other team's plays and get picks because he'd read the formations. Can you imagine asking how he knew where to be and your 6-year-old saying, 'I read the formation.' I mean c'mon."
Dwain coached him for a while, too. Isaiah's verdict: "the worst coach I had." Dwain took it well: "Yeah, I had to step back and just be dad."
The uncle is Larry Thompson, the basketball coach at Wheeler High in Marietta, and Collier played for him there. His mom was the tough questioner during his recruitment. Her line: "I'm sweet, but don't mess with my baby."
Three titles, and "Live Like Khalil"
Wheeler won state championships in 2020, 2021, and 2023 with Collier, per the Cobb County School District. In the summer of 2022 he led the Nike EYBL circuit in assists (6.5 a game) before a knee injury at USA Basketball tryouts ended his summer, per SI.
That August, his cousin Khalil Hardison, Thompson's son, drowned in the Chattahoochee River during a family kayaking trip. He was 21. "They were more like brothers than cousins," Chandra told SI. "He's almost like our middle son." The family started wearing purple "Live Like Khalil" wristbands, in the color of Hardison's beloved Baltimore Ravens.
Collier's senior season ended with the 7A state title, a 20-point win over Cherokee in Macon. After the game he said:
"I had to deal with a lot of adversity this year. It's been the hardest season of my life, losing my brother back in August. Winning this championship feels so good. So amazing. We did this for Khalil."
The honors piled up that spring. He was ESPN's No. 1 player in the class, co-MVP of the McDonald's All American Game with a game-high 25 points, and the consensus national high school player of the year, per Andscape.
USC: the No. 1 recruit's rough year
Collier committed to USC in November 2022 over Michigan, UCLA, and Cincinnati. His recruiting class at USC also included Wheeler teammate Arrinten Page and Bronny James. That season didn't go to plan for anyone. James went into cardiac arrest during a July workout and missed the start of the season. Then in January, Collier broke his hand against Washington State with USC sitting at 8-8, and James moved into a bigger role, per CBS Sports.
Collier missed about a month and finished with 16.3 points, 4.3 assists, and 1.5 steals a game, shooting 33.8% from three. USC went 15-18 and missed the NCAA Tournament, and coach Andy Enfield left for SMU. "College was definitely hard," Collier told Andscape. "I learned a lot. I had to learn a different kind of game."
Draft night: No. 29
The slide had two causes: the jumper and the measurements. USC listed him at 6-5, but at the draft combine he measured 6-2.5 without shoes. One scout told Andscape bluntly:
"If he could shoot, he'd be a top-5 pick. You're betting on him on being a worker, which he is going to be."
ESPN had him 11th on its big board in April, per ESPN. On draft night he lasted until Utah at No. 29. The pick came from Toronto in the February 2024 deadline deal that sent Kelly Olynyk and Ochai Agbaji to the Raptors, per Hoops Rumors. General manager Justin Zanik told The Salt Lake Tribune he'd looked into trading up for him, but stayed put and got him anyway: "So we are absolutely thrilled that Isaiah was available for us to take."
Collier's reaction: "Of course I was surprised a little bit, just being around at 29. ... But for me, I still feel like I'm one of the best players in this draft."
Rookie year: Stockton's name, and the turnovers
His NBA debut had to wait. He strained his right hamstring in a preseason game at San Antonio, per the Deseret News. Once he got going, the shot was as rough as the scouts said: 15.2% from three through his first 27 games, and the Deseret News's midseason report said he "has to cut down his turnovers."
Then Will Hardy moved him into the starting lineup in late January ("this is what's best for him and the team," Hardy told KSL), and the passing took over. He was the West's Rookie of the Month for February, averaging 11.5 points and 9.5 assists, per NBA.com. On March 31 he passed Stockton's franchise rookie record of 415 assists, per KSL. Hardy's comment there:
"There's no way the level that he's at from a decision-making standpoint that he showed up here with nothing."
Collier's explanation was simpler: "I always think I threw crazy passes since I was young." He finished at 8.7 points, 6.3 assists, and 2.9 turnovers in 25.9 minutes, shooting 42.2% from the field and 24.9% from three.
Year two: hamstrings, a near-trade, and 22 assists
Another hamstring injury cost him all of 2025 training camp and the start of the season, and he worked his way back with the G League Stars, per the Deseret News. On Nov. 28 he reached 500 career assists in his 81st game, the fastest in Jazz history (Stockton took 93), per Jazz On SI.
His best night came on Feb. 3, 2026, which was also trade night. The Jazz sent Walter Clayton Jr. and three others to Memphis for Jaren Jackson Jr., and KSL's Ben Anderson reported there was "a real possibility" Collier would have been in the deal instead. With seven available players that night in Indiana, Collier played all 48 minutes and had 17 points, 22 assists, and only two turnovers in a 131-122 win. That was the most assists by any NBA player that season and the most by a Jazz player since Stockton in 1992, per the AP via ESPN. Flashscore noted that at 21 years and 118 days, he was the youngest player ever with 20 or more assists in a game. "I feel like we needed this as a team," he said. "I needed this individually as well."
The season ended the way it started: a left hamstring strain kept him out of the last 13 games, per RotoWire via Fox Sports. Still, the numbers jumped: 11.7 points, a team-high 7.2 assists, and 49.5% from the field, with turnovers down to 2.5. The three-point shot (27.0% on 1.7 attempts) barely moved. The Jazz had already picked up his third-year option for 2026-27.
An uncomfortable summer
Collier spent the offseason with Phil Handy, the longtime NBA assistant and skills coach, per KSL, and Jazz fans were still talking about his summer workout video during the Spurs game thread. Here's how he described his summer at media day:
"The whole summer was definitely just being uncomfortable, honestly. I feel like that brought peace to me."
"Phil was working out three times a day. That's what I pretty much did every single day."
"It started with getting in the best shape I could possibly get in. I feel like shooting was definitely huge."
Austin Ainge called him the Jazz's best ball-handler, per KSL, and Lauri Markkanen named him the team's top trash talker: "(Collier) always been a trash talker in practice," per the Deseret News. Before the second preseason game, Hardy told Jazz On SI: "I think Zay has had a great camp. He's come in in really good shape."
The preseason has backed that up, mostly. In the opener against Denver in Boulder he had 9 points on 3-of-4 shooting, made 2 of 3 threes, and had no turnovers in 15 minutes (our recap). When reporters asked what had changed with the shot, he said, "It's just the trust in it," per FanSided's The J-Notes. The rematch was messier: 6 points, two turnovers, and a minus-12 in 17 minutes (recap).
Against San Antonio he had 11 points, 5 assists, and a game-high 5 steals in under 22 minutes, and the Jazz were plus-14 with him on the floor (recap). Hardy, per the Deseret News:
"(Collier) is an incredibly gifted athlete. He has really good instincts. The ability to close space. I think his — gambling's the wrong term — but he's doing it in the appropriate way right now. He's picking his spots of when to go for those steals, shoot in the gap."
He also got the Jazz's walkoff interview that night, and his message was about the locker room: "A lot of us love to be around each other… It's going to transfer to the regular season and be fun," per the Jazz on X.
Our take: we've made the Stockton comparisons since our season preview, and the numbers back them up. But what stands out this fall is what Hardy and Collier both keep saying: he knows who he is now. He's a fast passer who pressures the ball and takes the open three without hesitating.
Role
Collier is the backup point guard behind Keyonte George, and right now he's the first guard off the bench. He pushes the pace, gets into the paint, and finds shooters, and he led the Jazz in assists last season (7.2 in 25.7 minutes). This preseason he's also been a disruptive defender. The two things holding him back haven't changed: turnovers and the three-point shot, which he's made at 25.7% for his career.
2026-27 prediction
He plays around 20 minutes a night and runs the second unit, and he finishes top three on the team in assists despite the smaller role. Look for at least one more 15-assist night when George sits. The three is the swing: 3-for-6 in the preseason is encouraging, but it's six shots. If he makes even 31-32% on a couple of attempts a game, defenses can't go under screens anymore, and he becomes one of the better backup guards in the West. If not, he's still a useful 20-minute player. The bigger question is health. Hamstrings cost him the start of his rookie season and both ends of his second, and he needs a full, healthy season. The Jazz also have to decide by the end of October on his fourth-year option for 2027-28. We'd be surprised if they didn't pick it up.
Sources: Sports Illustrated, Cobb County School District, Andscape, CBS Sports, ESPN, Hoops Rumors, The Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News, KSL, NBA.com, Jazz On SI, KSL Sports, AP via ESPN, Flashscore, Fox Sports, KSL Sports media day, Deseret News, FanSided, and Utah Jazz on X.