The Michigan men's basketball team secured one of its biggest roster wins of the offseason Tuesday morning, when Alabama-Birmingham transfer Yaxel Lendeborg announced that he was withdrawing from the NBA Draft, and plans to spend the 2025-26 season with the Wolverines.
Lendeborg, the No. 1 player in 247Sports' 2025 transfer portal rankings, averaged 17.5 points, 10.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.8 blocks per game last season, and was the only Division-I player to match those statistical totals for the 2024-25 season. Last week, Lendeborg 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.
Lendeborg's combination of length, ball skills and defensive versatility make him compelling prospect to NBA teams, but the strength of his competition at UAB caused some hesitation among NBA scouts. According to Rookie Scale's consensus big board, Lendeborg (No. 29) was one of just four top-60 prospects who didn't play for a high-major conference or overseas this past season.
So instead of trying his luck as a prospect commonly viewed in the 20-40 range, Lendeborg will enjoy a lucrative NIL compensation while at Michigan, and try to follow the path that Danny Wolf laid out as a do-it-all power forward for the Wolverines. Last season, Wolf and Lendeborg were the only Division-I basketball players to be 6-foot-9 or taller and average at least 13.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game last season. And after coming to Michigan as an unheralded draft prospect the year prior, Wolf has continued to climb up NBA Draft boards, and is commonly viewed as a top-20 prospect.
Lendeborg will seek a similar ascent while in Ann Arbor, if not an attempt to climb into the draft lottery range. But before that, Lendeborg told Big Ten Network's Andy Katz that he has big plans for his time leading the maize and blue.
"I set goal for myself. I go to Michigan, I would want to win Big Ten Player of the Year. And at least get us to the Final Four," Lendeborg sad. "And if not, it's going to be a bad year for me."
In that same interview, Lendeborg said that he felt 50-50 on going to Michigan vs. staying in the NBA Draft, with a slight lean toward returning to college.
"Man, I am more in between than I can be, to be honest," Lendeborg told Katz. "I took the visit to Michigan. The visit was amazing and I really loved it. I would love to play there. And then the NBA thing is just the all be all. It's like 50/50, maybe 60/40 [in Michigan's favor]."
With Lendeborg on board, Michigan holds the No. 2 transfer portal recruiting class, and is commonly viewed as a preseason top-five team and national title contender.