One day before Kentucky tips off against Santa Clara in the first round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, Wildcats coach Mark Pope responded to Michigan star Yaxel Lendeborg claiming that he was offered $7 million to $9 million to play in Lexington.
“To [Big Blue Nation] I would just say, please don’t believe anything you read about anything,” Pope told reporters on Thursday. “If I was going to tell you the percent of stuff that was actually reported accurately, it would probably be in the 5th percentile.”
“There’s craziness swirling around, but that’s the circus that comes with Kentucky,” he added.
Yahoo Fantasy Bracket Mayhem: Make your picks for $50K in total prizes
Advertisement
Pope was asked directly “Did Kentucky offer an individual player $7 to $9 million?” But rather than dispute Lendeborg’s claim, he chose instead to criticize the media — and social media — for writing or clicking on “any crazy thing about Kentucky” to “get clicks and likes,” and above all, creating a distraction as the Wildcats begin the NCAA tournament.
Asked if Lendeborg’s claim was inaccurate, Pope didn’t answer directly.
“I know that you guys have to come out of here with a headline,” Pope said. “I’m not going to give it to you.”
“This is all part of the distraction that my team is not a part of,” he continued. “We will try and embrace the circus nature of this and count on some responsible media member somewhere to actually kind of dig in and find out or just be responsible reporting.”
Kentucky’s NIL spending on the men’s basketball team has attracted much attention. Donors and the program’s NIL collective spent $22 million to put together this season’s roster, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. For that money, the Wildcats finished with a 21-13 record and tied for fifth in the SEC at 10-8. That has made Pope defensive about how much money his program is offering players.
Advertisement
Yaxel Lendeborg was No. 1-ranked player in 2025 transfer portal
Lendeborg was ranked as the top player in the 2025 transfer portal after two seasons at UAB. As could be expected, he was in demand by college basketball programs throughout the country. According to him, Kentucky made a lucrative pitch to get him.
“They started the number with $7 [million] to $9 [million],” Lendeborg said to the AP’s Larry Lage. “They were pretty much going off on the route like we’ll pay him anything to get here.”
The 6-foot-9 forward went on to say that he accepted approximately three times less money to play for head coach Dusty May at Michigan.
“I was thinking long term,” Lendeborg added. “What if I mess up my career because I chased the money instead of a future? Another big reason why I went with Dusty was he didn’t talk about money at all. It was all about making me better and helping me achieve my goals.”
Lendeborg, 23, garnered Big Ten player of the year honors this season with the Wolverines, averaging 14.4 points, 7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.4 blocks. He also shot 34% on 143 3-point attempts. Michigan finished 31-3, 19-1 in the Big Ten, earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament’s Midwest region.
Advertisement
The Wolverines play No. 16 Howard on Thursday, while No. 7 Kentucky faces No. 10 Santa Clara on Friday.
