The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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JUNE/JULY 2026 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 9 BY ANTHONY BROOME K ids ages 6 to 16, along with parents decked out in maize and blue and national championship gear, filled the Oakland Fieldhouse in Rochester Hills for a camp hosted by the team at Flex- Work Sports on April 25. U-M stalwarts Yaxel Lendeborg and Elliot Cadeau, who co-hosted the camp, were once in their shoes, looking up to their instructors and trying to improve their game. After all these years, the Michigan stars got to return the favor. "It feels amazing," Lendeborg told The Wolverine. "These parents … who knows what they have to do today. Some may have put off work, some may have put off plans just to have their kids here, be present and just let them spend time with people that they look up to. "It means a lot to me. I used to want to be at these camps, just being with all the players that I wanted to be like, and I never got the opportunity. I'm just do- ing my best to still try to make this day memorable for these guys." Cadeau said that the youth camps he took part in as a kid fueled the player he is today. "I remember just being inspired, go- ing home from the camps wanting to play basketball instead of wanting to do other things that maybe weren't good for me," Cadeau said. "And I remember making a lot of friends throughout the camp. Literally one of my best friends that I see every summer, that I hang out with and take trips with every summer, I met at the basketball camp. So, seeing these kids meeting new people, making friends, means a lot to me." Cadeau's presence at the camp came less than a day after news broke that he would declare for the 2026 NBA Draft process, citing the desire for feedback and to build relationships. "I feel a lot of NBA teams showed inter- est in me after the postseason," Cadeau said. "I just want to show interest back and go through a couple of workouts, maybe the combine, and just see where I stand from there." He plans to be at Michigan in 2026-27. The NCAA Final Four's Most Outstand- ing Player recently pulled out of the NBA G League Elite Camp after receiving an invite on May's opening weekend. Cadeau and star freshman Trey McK- enney are expected to form one of the best backcourts in college basketball next season. The point guard is expecting big things from his young counterpart head- ing into Year 2, offering up a major pre- diction. "I think he's going to be the Big Ten Player of the Year next year," Cadeau said. "I think he's going to average over 16 points, and that's just the belief I have in him. The role he had last year was pretty limited to his capabilities, and he's not going to have any limit to what he can do this year. So, it'll be really exciting for him. "… I just think he's so talented offen- sively. Trey scores on all three levels so effortlessly, and he defends. He was able to be in the game in the national champi- onship at the end of the game as a fresh- man when the most important thing was defense. He showed that he can be really good on defense, and he's only going to improve on that, too." Lendeborg also took on a mentorship role with McKenney this season, and he expects to see a big sophomore leap as well. "He's a highly talented kid, a five-star freshman, a hometown hero," Lendeborg said. "He's done a lot for us this year … so a bigger role playing alongside Elliot, get- ting more minutes, getting more time to shine with the basketball — I feel like he's going to be able to showcase his abilities and scoring ability. Once he gets confi- dent, once he gets that going, nobody's going to be able to guard him." ❑ ❱ Inside Michigan ATHLETICS U-M Stars Give Back, Inspire Next Generation At Youth Camp National champions Yaxel Lendeborg (left) and Elliot Cadeau had a full-circle moment when they recently served as instructors at a youth basketball camp hosted in Rochester Hills, Mich., by FlexWork Sports. PHOTO BY ANTHONY BROOME