‘100% categorically false’: Pope denies claim that UK offered player $7-9 million
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Pope denied UK offered Lendeborg $7–9 million, calling report completely false.
- Lendeborg chose Michigan over Kentucky, citing development over reported pay.
- Lendeborg averages 14.7 points and helped Michigan secure a No.1 seed in 2026.
Four days after avoiding an answer on the subject, Kentucky coach Mark Pope denied offering Michigan basketball star Yaxel Lendeborg an NIL sum of $7-9 million in the transfer portal last year.
Pope addressed the situation on his final radio show of the season Monday night following the Cats’ 82-63 loss to Iowa State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament the previous day in St. Louis.
During Pope’s first press conference at the March Madness site last Thursday, the UK coach was asked about an Associated Press report from earlier in the week that quoted Lendeborg as saying he was offered an exorbitant sum by UK when he was in the portal last spring.
“They started the number with $7 (million) to $9 (million),” Lendeborg told the AP. “They were pretty much going off on the route like we’ll pay him anything to get here.”
When asked about that last week, Pope avoided specifically answering the question of whether or not he had offered any player that much money, instead offering a criticism of ethics in journalism.
Given another opportunity to address the situation by UK Sports Network host Tom Leach on the weekly coach’s show Monday night, Pope denied that the number was accurate.
“I don’t want to spend all my time chasing all the false stories and correcting them. I actually don’t want to be a fact check,” he said. “But stories like that, for example, that story is 100% categorically false, with no truth to it whatsoever. I’m hesitant to begin the process of grabbing every single thing that’s false, because there’s so much false narrative out there. …
“So I’m hesitant to jump in there. But stories like that just aren’t true. There’s no truth whatsoever to things like that.”
Leach pointed out that addressing the story in such a direct manner “kills it off quicker.”
“Maybe,” Pope replied. “We’ll see.”
Lendeborg was ranked by 247Sports as the No. 1 overall transfer in the portal last spring after playing a starring role for UAB. The finalists in his search for a new school were Kentucky, Auburn and Michigan, and he ultimately committed to Wolverines head coach Dusty May.
The 6-foot-9 forward from New Jersey told the Associated Press that he could have earned three times as much money at Kentucky as he ended up getting at Michigan.
“I was thinking long term,” he told the AP. “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 is averaging 14.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists for the Wolverines, who earned the 1 seed in the Midwest Region and will play Alabama in the Sweet 16 on Friday night. He was also a consensus first-team All-American this season.
Kentucky was the 7 seed in the Midwest Region and lost to Iowa State in the second round of the tournament Sunday afternoon. The Cats ended the season with a 22-14 record.
This story was originally published March 23, 2026 at 7:28 PM.
