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Friday, April 24, 2026

March Madness coach slams college star over 'categorically false' offer claim - Irish Star

Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope has denied claims that his team offered Michigan star Yaxel Lendeborg $7-9 million to transfer, calling the story "100% categorically false"

Mark Pope has essentially called Michigan Wolverines star Yaxel Lendeborg a liar, completely refuting claims made by the college basketball player.

Lendeborg, now in his fifth year, received multiple offers after transferring from UAB as a late bloomer in college basketball. The soon-to-be 24 year old alleged he was presented with a massive offer to join Kentucky, saying it "started the number with $7 [million] to $9 [million]." He continued: "They were pretty much going off on the route like we'll pay him anything to get here."

After initially remaining silent on the comments, Pope has now spoken out and dismissed the notion that the school made such an offer. In fact, Pope is frustrated that the rumor gained so much attention during March Madness. This comes after a coach turned the air red with a furious outburst at officials.

Following his team's elimination after their defeat to Iowa State, Pope addressed Lendeborg's statements.

"I don't want to spend all my time chasing all the false stories. I don't want to be a fact-checker, but stories like that, for example, that story is 100% categorically false with no truth to it," he said.

"I'm hesitant to, like, begin the process of grabbing every single thing that's false, because there's so much false narrative out there, and just chasing everyone.

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Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMimAFBVV95cUxObEJpY2lwSGpaZk1zWVpqV01O...