Though the Michigan men's basketball team is aiming high for the 2025-26 season regardless of **[Yaxel Lendeborg](https://247sports.com/Player/Yaxel-Lendeborg-46137128)**'s NBA Draft decision, there is no question that the UAB transfer is the kind of player who could push the Wolverines into the national championship conversation.
Lendeborg, the No. 1 player in 247Sports' 2025 transfer portal rankings, averaged 17.5 points, 10.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.8 blocks per game for UAB last season, and was the only Division-I player to match those statistical totals for the 2024-25 season. Earlier this week, the 6-foot-9 forward measured in with a 7-foot-4 wingspan, and was projected as a late first-round draft pick by ESPN (No. 29), The Ringer (No. 27), Yahoo Sports (No. 22) and Sports Illustrated (No. 27) while participating at the 2025 NBA Draft Combine in Chicago.
He also **[spoke to reporters](https://www.nba.com/hornets/videos/2025-draft-combine-interview-yaxel-lendeborg)** in Chicago, offering his own firsthand take on one of the biggest stay-or-go decisions in this year's draft class.
"I know I just said 60-40 with Michigan, man, but this whole process is really opening my eyes," Lendeborg said, referencing a Monday interview with the Big Ten Network. "I feel like now I'm definitely equal. I'm super stuck, quicksand, whatever you want to call it. I'm stuck in between, for sure."
Though a number of factors will weigh into Lendeborg's decision, one factor he said is a major consideration is the possibility of a guaranteed contract. While all first-round draft picks get a multi-year guaranteed contract, so too did picks No. 31-35, No. 37, No. 39, No. 40, No. 45 and No. 46.
"I just want to be in a position where I'm safe, where I know I can get the opportunity to play, opportunity to prove myself," Lendeborg said, adding that being a top-20 pick would be the "ultimate goal." "Hopefully, a guaranteed contract would be cool."
"… A team saying that they'll take me for sure, so I can know. We'll have those conversations in the background and making sure we're all set."
According to Lendeborg, Michigan's pitch to him was less about matching the salary through NIL compensation, and more about developing Lendeborg in a similar way to Danny Wolf, who transferred from Yale last offseason, then rocketed up NBA Draft boards with a similar statistical profile to Lendeborg. Wolf is now commonly viewed as a top-20 draft prospect.
"Yeah, they threw out their number and it wasn't really much of a competition," Lendeborg said. "(But) the competition was for them was more like just the trust in them. It wasn't about the money, we made it a point that the money wasn't gonna move me anyway. So just the coaches' honesty and faith and belief in me was what was competing with the NBA."
Michigan had an in with Lendeborg, who faced Dusty May in the 2023-24 season while he was coaching fellow AAC foe Florida Atlantic. But beyond that, May and his staff impressed Lendeborg with their player-first approach to recruiting the consensus top player in the transfer portal.
"I was a fan of Dusty's since he was at FAU, you know, I've been a big fan," Lendeborg said. "And From the jump, he was expressing to me that he's willing to wait while I go through this NBA combine process. Other teams weren't saying the same thing. They were willing to outbid the NBA, and I wasn't messing with that I wanted a school that was gonna rock with me from the beginning to the end, and that was Dusty."
Lendeborg has until May 28 to decide if he will stay in the 2025 NBA Draft or withdraw, though he told reporters in Chicago he hopes it doesn't take that long. Lendeborg's decision won't be an easy one: While NBA teams might prefer prospects who have played better competition, Lendeborg also turns 23 in September, and is already one of the oldest players in _this year's_ draft class, and may fight age concerns even with a strong season next year.
But if there were concerns about his interest in Michigan being fleeting, Lendeborg also told reporters that it was he who brought up and scheduled a visit to Michigan last month. That visit helped put Lendeborg's mind at ease, should he put off a lifelong dream for a season with the Wolverines.
"The message they gave me was they're gonna be willing to wait for me the whole time," he recalled. "They don't want to rush me into anything. Whatever I want to do, they're gonna support me either way. They worked me out, they were there talking to me and it was just super genuine. That's what it was about."