2025-26 Season

How Yaxel Lendeborg’s versatility could unlock Michigan’s ceiling

As the nation’s top transfer-portal recruit this offseason, graduate forward Yaxel Lendeborg has sky-high expectations heading into the 2025-26 season with the Michigan basketball team.

Lendeborg, who transferred from UAB, led the Blazers in minutes, points per game, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks, bringing in American Conference Defensive Player of the Year and First Team honors. The only other player to lead his team in all five major statistical categories last year was Duke’s Cooper Flagg.

Lendeborg was the spark plug for UAB, helping his team reach the NCAA Tournament in 2024 and the NIT quarterfinals in 2025.

Playing with the Blazers allowed him to thrive at a non-power-conference program, but Lendeborg wanted to find a place that matched his goals for his final college season. Lendeborg even had a chance to play in the NBA, testing out the waters before ultimately deciding to spend one more year in college.

But the main driving factors for his decision to stick with the Wolverines were his personal goals and the opportunity to play for Michigan coach Dusty May.

“I wanna get to the Final Four,” Lendeborg said Sept. 30 at Michigan Media Day. “(May) coaches players like a father-son type of thing. I always wanted to play for a coach who has that type of relationship. He’s a guy that never raises his voice at you, and if he does, it’s something, just to help you out, never to make you feel bad about yourself.”

Lendeborg’s decision to stick around and play for Michigan is ultimately one that will benefit both parties. As Lendeborg spends another year in college to refine his skills under May to prepare for the NBA, Michigan also gets a player who will be a difference maker night in and night out.

The Wolverine staff was confident in their ability to contend without Lendeborg, but his addition to the roster elevates everything around him. The Wolverines enter the year ranked in the preseason top ten, providing the national stage that Lendeborg is looking for to showcase his skills.

“The one thing about Yaxel is that when the lights are on, he moves better, he’s quicker, he’s faster, he’s more athletic,” May said at Michigan Media Day. “He even has another big jump to make. But his versatility, he played a different position at UAB, and he was incredibly successful there, and he helped them win a lot of ball games, but we’re playing him a little bit differently.

“I’ve been impressed, he’s further ahead of where I thought he would be at this point.”

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