Rivals to Michigan basketball like to claim that Michigan basketball’s roster this year is part and parcel of transfer portal spending run amok (even if this report proves that to be untrue — though this is of operational budgets). But the most notable, and likely most expensive player, on the Wolverines reportedly didn’t cost as much as many might think.
Yaxel Lendeborg was the No. 1 player in the transfer portal, and every team wanted him, even if he had appeared to be leaning toward the NBA last offseason. However, he ended up choosing Dusty May and the maize and blue above all other options. And according to AP’s Larry Lage, that also meant turning down a much more lucrative offer from Kentucky.
Michigan’s 6-foot-9, 240-pound point forward was the top prospect in the transfer portal last year and Kentucky was prepared to make him the highest-paid player in college basketball.
“They started the number with $7 to 9 (million),” Lendeborg said in an interview with The Associated Press. “They were pretty much going off on the route like we’ll pay him anything to get here.”
Instead, he chose to play for Dusty May and the Wolverines even though the former UAB star said he would have earned about three times more money if he suited up for Mark Pope and the Wildcats. (…)
“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.”
Lendeborg’s quote is getting a fair amount of pushback on social media, but his quote about not chasing money (and there was more than this in the original article) indicates he wasn’t financially driven as much as he was seeking development. There’s no way to know the truth of it, but certainly this will be something touted by Michigan fans and further decried by rival fans who love to hate all things maize and blue.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Report: Why Yaxel Lendeborg chose Michigan over Kentucky’s $7+ million
Reporting by Isaiah Hole, Wolverines Wire / Wolverines Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
