The Michigan Wolverines expect to compete for championships this winter, and based on an early 2026 NBA mock draft, they should have the talent to do so.
Three Wolverines appear among the top-33 players in ESPN's big board, released Friday morning by Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo, and all three are frontcourt players: Yaxel Lendeborg at No. 14, Aday Mara at No. 22, and Morez Johnson Jr. at No. 33.
ESPN wrote the following about Lendeborg, who they labeled as one of the top returning prospects to watch in college basketball this season:
Lendeborg broke out last season at UAB and will transfer to Michigan, where a huge role and lucrative NIL deal await after he considered entering the 2025 draft. He had positive flashes at the combine, but it wasn't enough to earn him a first-round assurance. The Wolverines have lost quite a bit of frontcourt production, with first-rounder Danny Wolf (No. 27) and Vladislav Goldin off to the pros, allowing Lendeborg to help himself in the same way. A late-blooming prospect with a mix of offensive skill, defensive playmaking and excellent length, expect Lendeborg to figure prominently for Michigan.
Lendeborg, Mara and Johnson Jr. all came to Ann Arbor from other programs and highlight Michigan's No. 2-ranked Transfer Portal class.
Morez Johnson Jr. (Illinois): The 6-foot-9 big man spent his freshman season as a member of the Illini, where he averaged 7.0 points and 6.7 rebounds in 17.7 minutes. He came into college as a top-35 recruit nationally and the No. 1 player in the state of Illinois, per the 247Sports Composite, and had worked his way into the starting lineup before a wrist injury. The Illini Inquirer, the 247Sports site for Illinois, called him "a star in the making" due to his "toughness and tenacity." As a freshman, Johnson was an excellent offensive rebounder and played at both the '4' and the '5.' He will represent Team USA at the 2025 FIBA U19 Men's World Cup this summer.
Yaxel Lendeborg (UAB): The top-ranked player in the Transfer Portal committed to Michigan on April 5. He went through the NBA Draft process but ultimately chose another season in college. A 6-foot-9, 230-pound forward, Lendeborg averaged 17.7 points, 11.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.8 blocks per game last season for the Blazers. In the process, he shot 52.2% from the field and 35.7% from three.
Aday Mara (UCLA): Mara is a 7-foot-3 rising junior who appeared in 61 games for the Bruins over the last two seasons. This past year, Mara averaged 6.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 1.0 assists per game, despite playing just 13.1 minutes per game. He ranked 14th nationally with a block rate of 17.1 percent and made 59.0 percent of his field goals (all 2-pointers).
The trio join Will Tschetter and Oscar Goodman to create what should be one of the best frontcourts in the country.
"First and foremost, the ability to be deep, have real depth within our roster is really important. Those guys really give us a chance to have real depth," said U-M assistant Justin Joyner. "Certainly with those three adds — Yax, Morez, and Aday, it gives you a really deep front line with obviously Will Tschetter, Oscar Goodman as well. Our front line is deep and I think you have to be able to play big in college basketball.
"We saw that last year with Danny and Vlad. Danny was a little bit more of a perimeter-type big. We'll have to play a little bit different, but I think Yax can certainly do both — play on the perimeter, play in the post, and do some things like that. Just the depth, the size, the physicality, the athleticism. I love the fact that they're all a little bit different inside. Morez is different than Aday. Aday is different than Yax. We have some versatility on the front line."