CHICAGO — Michigan star forward Yaxel Lendeborg didn’t expect his comments to cause such a stir.

The comments in question were from last week, before the NCAA Tournament tipped off, when the Big Ten Player of the Year told the Associated Press that Kentucky offered him “$7 (million) to $9 (million)” when he entered the transfer portal last offseason to play for the Wildcats.

“They were pretty much going off on the route like we’ll pay him anything to get here,” Lendeborg told the AP.

The 6-foot-9 graduate senior chose the Wolverines instead, a marriage that has worked out very well for both parties this season, as No. 1 seed Michigan is set to face No. 4 Alabama in the Sweet 16 on Friday. But the amount of money Lendeborg claimed Kentucky offered did raise eyebrows. And received some pushback, including from Wildcats head coach Mark Pope.

“I don’t think anybody differentiates between social media with someone in their underwear in their basement that has nothing to do, versus the most noted journalist in the world with unbelievable ethics. I think that it all blurs together, and we just start reporting what everybody else is reporting, whether it has any validity or not,” Pope said last week prior to Kentucky’s first-round tournament win over Santa Clara. “To (Big Blue Nation) I would just say, please don’t believe anything you read about anything. If I was going to tell you the percent of stuff that was actually reported accurately, it would probably be in the 5th percentile. It is an interesting time in the world, and that just is what it is.”

Lendeborg wasn’t interested in re-igniting the issue in Chicago on Thursday.

“I didn’t think it was going to be such a big deal,” he told The Athletic. “In a way, when I’m being called a liar and stuff too, it’s like, man, what would I gain from lying, you know?”

But he also regretted that it became a headline, and that Pope was forced to address it as well.

“I felt bad because they put a spotlight on Pope because of that,” Lendeborg added. “I don’t want to speak on it anymore because it was bad. Whatever he said, I’ll just stick with what he said. I don’t want to make it a bigger deal.”

Lendeborg may have jump-started another storyline instead.

After starting his college career at Arizona Western Junior College, Lendeborg spent two seasons at UAB, where he was a two-time first-team All-AAC honoree and two-time defensive player of the year. He was highly coveted in the portal last offseason — The Athletic ranked him the No. 2 available transfer player — but he claimed that Alabama, a power-conference program in the same state as UAB, wasn’t interested.

“Once I entered the transfer portal out of UAB, I was hoping to get recruited by Alabama. And when I didn’t, it kind of hurt me a little bit,” said Lendeborg. “Not in a way where I can say I hate them and all that. It just bothered me a little bit.

“All it is is extra motivation,” he added. “Not in the sense where I’m like, This is what you guys missed out on, but like, you guys could have at least called. There’s no bad blood. Maybe I didn’t fit the system.”

Lendeborg took a unique path to college basketball stardom. Born in Puerto Rico to Dominican parents, he grew up mostly in New Jersey and didn’t start playing basketball until he was 15. His size and versatility — combined with his success this season — earned him the nickname “Dominican LeBron,” but he was a late bloomer. He spent three seasons at the juco level, developing from 6.1 points and 7.1 rebounds in his first season, shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, to 17.2 points and 13 rebounds in year three.

A few years later, he’s averaging a team-high 14.7 points for the Wolverines along with 6.9 rebounds, earning first-team All-America honors. He had a game-high 25 points in the second-round win over Saint Louis on Saturday, including a posterizing dunk.

A euro step poster is just ridiculous 🤯#MarchMadness @umichbball https://t.co/Db0TzQ5W6d pic.twitter.com/PHnhPnvzqZ

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 21, 2026

Now he’ll have a little extra juice against the Crimson Tide as he attempts to lead Michigan back to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2021 and Final Four for the first time since 2018. Even if the origins of that motivation were up for debate on Thursday.

“We did make a call. It never got very deep,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said when asked about recruiting Lendeborg out of the portal. “I think there were some programs that were in a little deeper with a lot more money at the time. It’s one of those, you kind of call, see where the situation is at. Probably wasn’t something we were going to be able to do, so didn’t spend a lot of time on it.”

Ultimately, Michigan coach Dusty May was the coach that did make it happen. He joked about how Lendeborg has found himself in a couple of these back-and-forth situations this season — but considering how he’s played, May has no problems with it.

“I think we’ve had several subplots this year and he seems to be performing well up to this point, so whatever irritates him, I’m going to ride with that and support him,” May said. “And don’t tell Yax, but (Alabama) did try to recruit him.”