Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg Reveals Crazy Amount Of Money He Was Offered To Play At Kentucky

(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

The NIL money floating around just gets wilder and wilder.

Yaxel Lendeborg, a star forward for the Michigan Wolverines men’s basketball program, recently said in an interview that he could be making an unbelievable amount of money if he decided to play for a certain blue blood.

Coming into the 2025-26 season, Lendeborg was one of the best players that entered the transfer portal, doing so from UAB. Ultimately, he made a commitment to Michigan, but is on record saying that Kentucky made him a massive offer to play for them.

“They started the number with $7 (million) to $9 (million),” said Lendeborg while speaking with The Associated Press in an interview that was published Monday. “They were pretty much going off on the route like we’ll pay him anything to get here.” (RELATED: Alabama’s Aden Holloway Arrested On Marijuana Charge Just Days Before March Madness)

He instead made the decision to play for Dusty May rather than Mark Pope.

“I was raised without it and I went my whole life without it,” said Lendeborg. “Anything was going to make me super, super happy at the time.

“I was thinking long term. 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.”

TRENDING: According to the Associated Press, Michigan star forward Yaxel Lendeborg was offered 7-9 million dollars to suit up for Kentucky this season 🤯 He instead declined, and decided to commit to Dusty May’s Wolverines for 3x less than what the Wildcats were offering. “I… pic.twitter.com/Zl7wZGb7mX — Recruits CFB (@recruits_cfb) March 17, 2026

TRENDING: According to the Associated Press, Michigan star forward Yaxel Lendeborg was offered 7-9 million dollars to suit up for Kentucky this season 🤯

He instead declined, and decided to commit to Dusty May’s Wolverines for 3x less than what the Wildcats were offering.

“I… pic.twitter.com/Zl7wZGb7mX

— Recruits CFB (@recruits_cfb) March 17, 2026

It’s absolutely bananas how rich these kids are today, but good for them for making it young and in this economy.

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