Yaxel Lendeborg and Nimari BurnettBefore the gameMichigan 91, Arizona 73NCAA Final FourGame page →
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Q6 Dusty May's pitch to stay
This one's for you. When you were debating what to do at this point last year, whether it was, you know, test the waters in the NBA or go to the transfer portal, you know, what was the argument that Dusty made for coming to Michigan? And like, why did you ultimately decide that, you know, this was gonna be the path to take?
Yaxel Lendeborg
Honestly, he was the only coach that I talked to that wasn't bringing up money. And that ultimately put him ahead already, just because he wanted to develop me as a person and not just as a prodigy or just a basketball player. He was also telling me the truth, not what I wanted to hear. He was saying the team was going to be good without me.
The team with me would be great. And he was being super nice, super genuine about everything, not lying to me at all. And he was with me throughout the whole process. When I went in the combine, he had Danny and Vlad there, he stayed for those games, but then he also stayed extra to watch me.
And that meant a lot to me, just showing his character. You know, he's wasting his time with somebody that, you know, he know, he doesn't know that is coming to his school or not, you know, and that also meant a lot to me. But just overall, his honesty with me was, is what stuck out.
Q11 Options instead of junior college
And you mentioned you didn't want to go to junior college. So like, what was the other option?
Yaxel Lendeborg
I didn't have another option, honestly. I was working at a warehouse job with my mom for an electronic company. Those hours were very brutal. It was like 7 to like 6, something like that.
I got in at the worst time, pretty much. But, you know, I was pretty much getting used to that lifestyle, like, this is going to be me, whatever, you know. I'll just make the most of my time after I get off of work. But, you know, she wanted better for me, and she pretty much forced me on the path.
Nimari Burnett
It was—
Q23 Choosing to return over the draft
You mentioned kind of how far you've come. Most guys probably would have jumped at the chance to be a first-round pick. What made you come back?
Yaxel Lendeborg
Honestly, I didn't feel like I was, um, I was ready to, to go yet, you know. Um, I still had a lot of developing I needed to do mentally, physically. I didn't feel as confident in my 3-ball as I do now. I mean, that's pretty much the name of the game in the NBA.
I wanted to develop more as a small forward as well because I didn't know how it would look, you know. So I definitely got all the feedback that I wanted from the NBA execs and all of that. They told me what I needed to do, and I felt like I still needed a lot of work to do. And I didn't want to go in there and, you know, get drafted maybe and then be in a bad situation, you know.
So I wanted to make sure that wherever I go next year, it's it's the right situation for me and I get a chance to actually prove myself.
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