Via ESPN's Shams Charania and Jonathan Givony this thing is happening! Yaxel Lendeborg told insiders that he is withdrawing from the NBA Draft to play a year in Ann Arbor.
Yaxel Lenderborg, a projected first round pick, will withdraw his name from the 2025 NBA draft and spend his final season in college at the University of Michigan, he told me and @DraftExpress. Agents Qais Haider, Ron Shade and Alex Saratsis informed the program Tuesday.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 27, 2025
This is kind of a big deal. Reports from the combine were high on his measurements and skills (things that matter) but that he missed shots during scrimmages (doesn't so much matter). Yaxelwatch was expecting him to either blow up into a 1st round projection and go to the NBA or fall to the 2nd round where Michigan could make that happen. Nobody was saying he would get mocked in the 1st *AND* return to Michigan.
Impact here is something between getting another year of Danny Wolf and Johni Broome, his two nearest comps.
Michigan should be a contender for the Big Ten crown and a 1-seed next year. Let's all do our minutes breakdowns for this depth chart.