The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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JUNE/JULY 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 57 M ichigan men's basketball coach Dusty May demonstrated in his first season in Ann Arbor that he could return the program back to relevance. With a roster hastily pasted together via the transfer portal in one off- season, the Wolverines won the Big Ten Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16 as a 5 seed. The season was an unequiv- ocal success that exceeded all expecta- tions. This offseason, May has shown he in- tends to maintain U-M as at least a top- 25 outfit. Despite that the Wolverines lost their two best players in twin towers Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin, May has hit gold in the portal once again. According to On3, the Maize and Blue have the fourth- best transfer class in the nation due in part to landing quality pieces in UCLA center Aday Mara, Illinois center/forward Morez Johnson Jr. and North Carolina point guard Elliot Cadeau. However, May also is taking his shot at proving he can make Michigan a national contender, too. The primary reason Michigan's transfer class is so acclaimed is that May and the Wolverines beat out Kentucky for UAB transfer Yaxel Lendeborg, the top overall prospect in the portal according to On3. Lendeborg was phenomenal as a Blazer and made his impact all over the hard- wood last year. The 6-foot-9 power for- ward averaged a double-double with 17.7 points and 11.4 rebounds per game and added 4.2 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.7 steals per contest to boot. Not only was his contribution volu- minous, he was also efficient. Lendeborg posted an offensive rating of 123.7 on a heavy usage rate of 25.6 percent thanks to his solid shot-making around the rim (67.5 percent on close twos), getting to the charity stripe often (44.9 free-throw rate), cashing them in (75.7 free-throw percent- age) and keeping defenses honest from beyond the arc (36.2 three-point percent- age). Of all qualified players who used at least 24 percent of their team's posses- sions, he had the 12th-best offensive rat- ing, slotting one spot higher than national player of the year Cooper Flagg (Duke). Lendeborg isn't the consensus No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, however, be- cause of his level of competition. Accord- ing to KenPom, the American Athletic Conference was only the 11th-toughest league and had no top-50 teams. As such, Lendeborg participated in only four of what KenPom considers Tier A contests, which represents top-50 opponents ad- justed for game location. In those four contests, Lendeborg's offensive rating fell from 123.7 to 102.6. So rather than being a surefire lottery pick, Lendeborg is float- ing between the top 20 and top 40 and participating in pre-draft workouts to see if he can earn the promise of a guaranteed contract. As a result, even though Michigan fought off the Wildcats to receive Lend- eborg's commitment, May's battle for him is not over. Now May needs to fend off the NBA to have Lendeborg's services next year. He was invited to the 2025 NBA Draft Com- bine, which is being held from May 11- 18. On May 12, NCAA.com and Big Ten Network reporter Andy Katz interviewed Lendeborg at the Combine and asked him where he stood between the NBA Draft and Michigan. Lendeborg initially said, "50/50. Maybe 60/40." Katz prodded him further about who's got the 60, and Lendeborg responded, "Oh, that's tough. Michigan." However, that same night, af- ter the NBA Draft Lottery, ESPN's Jona- than Givony and Jeremy Woo released their latest mock draft, and Givony pro- jected Lendeborg to be selected by the Phoenix Suns with the second-to-last pick of the first round. He is leaning to- ward Michigan, but it could go either way. Which way it goes will have a sig- nificant impact on the Maize and Blue and their expectations for this season. If Lendeborg returns to school, Bart Torvik's T-Rank projects that the Wolverines will be the fourth-best team in the country behind only Houston, Purdue and Duke. While Mara and Johnson are tantalizing post players, their skill sets are more lim- ited. Lendeborg would give the Wolver- ines a complete, high-motor player down low who can play 30 minutes per game and headline an incredibly deep front- court that would also have Will Tschet- ter as a stretch four. With that talent and depth, Michigan may barely feel the loss of Wolf and Goldin in a physical Big Ten, and as hard as it is to believe, U-M should be much better than last season. However, if Lendeborg is removed from Michigan's roster, T-Rank's projection for Michigan plummets 17 spots to 21st, just two spots ahead of where U-M finished on T-Rank last season. This is the swing May is taking. Even though the season does not start for an- other six months, he will know by May 28 — the NCAA early-entry withdrawal deadline —whether his recruitment of Lendeborg was all for naught or whether the Wolverines are eyeing a trip to the Fi- nal Four instead. ❑ INSIDE THE NUMBERS ❱ DREW HALLETT The Lendeborg Leap To The Top 5 Power forward Yaxel Lendeborg, who averaged 17.7 points and 11.4 rebounds a game last season at Alabama Birmingham, must decide on playing at Michigan next season or entering the NBA Draft by May 28. PHOTO COURTESY UAB ATHLETICS Staff writer Drew Hallett has covered Michigan athletics since 2013. Contact him at drew.c.hallett@gmail.com and follow him on X (Twitter) @DrewCHallett.