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Michigan lands Yaxel Lendeborg, No. 1 player in NCAA transfer portal

Anthony Broomeby:Anthony Broome•04/05/25•

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Yaxel Lendeborg
Chris Jones | Imagn Images

The Michigan Wolverines have landed the biggest prize of the basketball transfer portal cycle thus far, grabbing a commitment from No. 1 player Yaxel Lendeborg. This forward spent the last two seasons at UAB and has one season of eligibility remaining.

According to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, Lendeborg will also go through the NBA Draft process and is seeking a guaranteed contract.

Michigan and Kentucky were considered the top two contenders in a recruitment that would up being a national race. U-M needed in its frontcourt and addressed it in a big way with a major investment in his services.

Lendeborg, who stands at 6-9, 240 pounds, has also declared for the NBA Draft in addition to entering the portal, but a season at a Power Four school could be a boost to his pro stock. He has spent the last two years at UAB after spending two seasons at Arizona Western College in the JUCO ranks. While he was there, he was a two-time NJCAA All-American and back-to-back ACCAC Player of the Year.

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This season, he was a star with the Blazers, averaging 17.7 points, 11.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.7 assists per game while shooting 52.2% from the field and 35.7% from three-point range.

Lendeborg had season highs of 30 points and 20 rebounds in a 94-77 win over East Carolina in the AAC Tournament, along with 8 assists, 4 blocks and 5 steals. He was the AAC Defensive Player of the Year and an All-AAC First-Team selection for the second year in a row. He also set a single-season program record for rebounds with 420 this year at UAB and led the NCAA with 26 double-doubles on the season.

Lendeborg is the third commitment in the transfer portal class for Michigan, joining former North Carolina point guard Elliot Cadeau and Illinois forward/center Morez Johnson Jr. U-M has lost four players via the portal thus far – guards Tre Donaldson and Justin Pippen, forward/guard Jace Howard and forward Sam Walters.

The portal is open through April 22. A dead period is currently in place through April 10.

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