Seeing the Twitter comments and on here, I’m so freaking sick of delusional Kentucky fans claiming everyone else is lying and they know the truth. You jackasses don’t know crap. What purpose does he have to lie about how much money he was offered? Some of ya’ll are as big of a joke as Pope is.
Yaxel Lendeborg
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To be honest, this actually makes me respect some of the top players more. Apparently winning and development still means something to them. Sucks for us though
In hindsight I took the “name on the front stuff” as well as taking down NBA players in the Craft Center hook, line and sinker. Probably from one and done fatigue as a lot of BBN did, but what Cal said yesterday is right. The name on the back matters to talented recruits and guys in the portal. Nobody is coming here because we are Kentucky. How will they be utilized? How can you get them to the next level? That’s what matters. Those are the times we live in
When everyone is saying we’re the problem, chances are we’re the problem.
NIL money is not paid by the school, they only organize money from private donors.
I figured. They tried to hard. And now the book is out on Pope and his staff. Pope had no history as a recruiter and now you're seeing that play itself out.
Players can get the money anywhere and win. Your coach better be THE cool coach or you going to lose out on the first choice transfer market and first choice high School burgerboys and get fleeced in the market on your second and third and fourth backups.
This is exactly the world that Pope is now in.
Pope, u better find a better way to keep what you're paying these players under wraps a little better.
Your best angle is you have plenty of playing time available and you've developed a few NBA picks players in your two years.
But you better get your first choice transfer here in a couple weeks or these players are going to fleece you.
Mark Pope, you better have something lined up already. If you're still looking we are fudged.
Players can get the money anywhere and win. Your coach better be THE cool coach or you going to lose out on the first choice transfer market and first choice high School burgerboys and get fleeced in the market on your second and third and fourth backups.
This is exactly the world that Pope is now in.
Pope, u better find a better way to keep what you're paying these players under wraps a little better.
Your best angle is you have plenty of playing time available and you've developed a few NBA picks players in your two years.
But you better get your first choice transfer here in a couple weeks or these players are going to fleece you.
Mark Pope, you better have something lined up already. If you're still looking we are fudged.
Remember that THIS year hadn’t happened yet. At the time what Yaxel saw was a big man in Amari Williams get to display his skills (eventually getting him to the NBA). Not like Pope would have just been posting him up. 3 times less money for one year with May doesn’t make sense.
A lot of fools on this board, I have zero doubt this kid is telling the truth, none of these elite players want to play for Pope, he has no swagger in the the BB world, nada!
Awful harsh things to say when none of us including yourself know what he was offered. Regardless of that situation, theirs a recruiting problem that has to be fixed
I’m a little confused by this considering when we were looking at Yaxel the whole debacle that happened this year was not even palpable yet. Pope seemed to coach up a random group of guys pretty well last year and even got a couple in the league. So I find it a little hard to see yaxel completely doubting Popes coaching ability and then turning down 8 million. He sounds like he’s patting himself on the back with the ole hindsight 20/20 feeling. I think the real answer lies in all the lies and negative talk coming from other coaches. It’s obvious pope has been drug through the mud in the recruiting world and he may never escape it.
He won’t have a source, he’s just basing things off his opinions apparently. UK has major recruiting issues and some people don’t want to acknowledge it at this point. Whatever is going on has to be corrected asap.
No way we offered anybody that kind of money. This kid (or some bogus person) just trying to make himself look better and make UK look bad.
Yeah but they didn’t play for Pope. Those are all Calipari guys
Two things can be true at the same time believe it or not. You can think recruiting is looking bad and also think a young man flushing $6 million down the toilet to play for a coach for one year sounds strange.
He probably shouldn't brag about the NBA stuff either -- top players aren't going to be sold by the 43rd and 46th picks. In 2026 he has no players on the board aside from JQ and... LOL at trying to claim he "developed" JQ.
He seriously has nothing to sell other than playing time and money. That's how you end up with cancers like Oweh as your "stud". You would think the athletic director would think about this type of stuff before hiring him.
Hard to believe there are people in the world stupid enough not to see that distinction, or worse, willfully ignore it.
I never said UK didn’t have recruiting issues. They do.
The headline is also ridiculous.
If you find one UK or non UK national media source that validates us offering that much money or him accepting that little money to go to Michigan, I will be shocked. If anyone chooses to believe the kid because it furthers their beliefs, feel free.
Doesn’t matter who they played for. The NBA would have taken them straight out of HS if they had that kind of talent. I agree that Pope seems to be a poor recruiter, but Yaxel’s supposed comment is far from the truth IMO.
Every player that was drafted went where they were expected to before they committed to Kentucky, so I don’t think he coached them up much
Can you guys imagine how easy it is right now to negatively recruit against Mark Pope? Gotta be some really nasty **** opposing coaches can throw out there. They’re probably having a field day.
I don’t believe this for a second. This is the same University that employed a football coach who was a crazier version of Bobby Petrino. Probably still crestfallen from the Aaron Harrison dagger 3 in 2014. Hope they get knocked out early.
Another PR nightmare.
Kentucky has had all year to address the $22 million roster fiasco and they’ve not said a damn thing. So its probably true.
Pope needs to address this stupid crap.
This program is bloated and sloppy right now, and it appears to be dumping boatloads of money into a fire for sub-standard results.
Is there any good news Kentucky? Huh Pope? Anything at all to be proud of or look forward to?
Kentucky has had all year to address the $22 million roster fiasco and they’ve not said a damn thing. So its probably true.
Pope needs to address this stupid crap.
This program is bloated and sloppy right now, and it appears to be dumping boatloads of money into a fire for sub-standard results.
Is there any good news Kentucky? Huh Pope? Anything at all to be proud of or look forward to?
Look you stupid loud mouth **** you're always putting the fans down here aren't you? You hate Kentucky you hate the program. You hate everything about it. I'm guessing you're coach Cals closet *****.
He was not offered 7-9 mill. He had crazy demands and UK backed off. All he's doing is lying trying to sale Michigan to recruits. Pope is a horrible recruiter however even he could get that deal done if it were that much. This is absolutely false but will be pushed by the media to create a narrative
Who exactly is "everyone" though? If he's telling the truth then that goes totally against what's been said by most people, that JMI is the problem & they limit NIL opportunities & don't wanna pay top dollar for players. I think it's the analytical system Pope uses, players want their minutes & not to be taken out while hot, simply because of how many minutes analytics says they should play. Pope has gotten the visits from 5* players, he just can't close the deal for whatever reason, he needs to figure out why?
I didn’t say you said that. I was just saying in general we have recruiting issues. Doesn’t take much reading to find we have people that won’t admit it. I’m guessing he’s probably being dishonest, but I’m not going to call him a liar because none of us including myself know what he was offered.
Man, that’s a bad look for UK and Pope.
No other way to spin it.
I do question why the kid threw Pope under the bus when he could’ve said “other schools offered me substantially more, but I wanted to play for Dusty because yada yada yada.” Seemed like a cheap shot.
No wonder poor ole Pope is in hiding.
No other way to spin it.
I do question why the kid threw Pope under the bus when he could’ve said “other schools offered me substantially more, but I wanted to play for Dusty because yada yada yada.” Seemed like a cheap shot.
No wonder poor ole Pope is in hiding.
Regardless, if true or not. It FURTHER highlights that Pope isn’t the right FIT for UK.I’m just sharing an article
The $22,000,000 stuff comes out. “That’s just a lie made up. Trying to make Pope look bad.”
Yaxel tells the media this “that’s just a lie. That young man is lying. Everybody out to get Pope.”
Maybe just maybe there’s some truth behind it and a reason Kentucky has 0 commits. Trent Noah probably growing up thought the opportunity to play at Kentucky would be the highlight of his career. A 5 star recruit from New York, Texas or California probably doesn’t want this to be the highlight and has professional aspirations.
I definitely believe that a 23-Year old in the transfer portal turned down 3x the amount of money he accepted.
On an unrelated note, did you guys know that the word "gullible" isn't in the dictionary?
On an unrelated note, did you guys know that the word "gullible" isn't in the dictionary?
No one in the coaching game respects that man. It’s insane how little respect he appears to garner from expects and coaches who should know Pope incredibly well. I’m starting to wonder if the BYU fans were right: Pope’s a tool.
