The top-ranked transfer of this college basketball offseason is in fact coming to Michigan. Yaxel Lendeborg is withdrawing from the NBA draft.
“I’ll see you at Crisler Center,” he announced on social media on Tuesday. “Go Blue!”
Lendeborg, a 6-foot-9 forward who stuffed the stat sheet during his college career, including the past two seasons at UAB, transferred to Michigan last month while also declaring for the draft. He was on the fence about his next step earlier this month, saying at the NBA draft combine that he sought a “promise” from an NBA team and preferred that guarantee was among the top 20 picks.
Apparently he didn’t receive such a promise or was otherwise swayed to stay in college. Either way, he’s a huge boost to Michigan’s roster for next season. ESPN had projected him as the No. 26 pick in the draft. CBS Sports ranked him as the top player in this year’s transfer class.
Lendeborg had through Wednesday — the NCAA’s deadline for players to withdraw and still play in college — to make up his mind
Michigan coach Dusty May told MLive at the combine that he was excited about his roster regardless of any potential additions. Lendeborg, per sources, will make between $2 and $3 million at Michigan next season. That is the same annual salary range for a late first-round pick, though those deals are guaranteed for two years.
“The NIL thing never really played a factor,” Lendeborg said at the combine in Chicago. “I talked to Dusty a lot about just trying to develop skills that I need to develop. … From the jump, he was expressing to me that he’s willing to wait while I go through this NBA combine process. … I wanted a school that was going to rock with me from the beginning to the end, and that was Dusty.”
The end is here, with Lendeborg removing himself from the draft to enroll at Michigan. Danny Wolf and Vladislav Goldin, two transfers who played last season at Michigan, hope to get drafted on June 25-26.
Lendeborg led UAB in all five major statistical categories last season, averaging 17.7 points, 11.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.8 blocks, and 1.7 steals per game. He was a two-time All-American Athletic Conference first-team selection and the league’s defensive player of the year.
He spent his early years in Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic before moving to the United States, where he lived in Ohio and New Jersey. He attended Arizona Western, a junior college, for two years before transferring to UAB.
