Yaxel Lendeborg finally finds the spotlight at Michigan in leading Wolverines to Sweet 16 berth

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BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Yaxel Lendeborg began to chuckle at the podium when Michigan center Aday Mara expressed dismay in not understanding the meaning of the word “mercenary.”

Rather than leave his Spanish-born teammate hanging, Lendeborg jumped in, answering the question that’s hovered over the Wolverines program — and many others — in the modern age of NILs, transfer portals, bidding wars and constant shuffling of rosters.

“I think the transfer portal helps out a lot of kids, especially me,” said the graduate senior and Big Ten player of the year who, along with Mara, is among Michigan's four key offseason additions.

“Being in this situation, I’ve had the best year of my life,” he added. “If that’s what they want to call mercenary, I would love to be a mercenary. That’s cool with me.”

However long it took Lendeborg to find the spotlight, or finally have the spotlight find him after three junior college seasons at Arizona Western and two more at Birmingham-Alabama, the 23-year-old multi-talented power forward is thriving on the big stage of the NCAA Tournament.

Nicknamed “The Dominican LeBron,” Lendeborg was a force in leading the Midwest Region’s top-seeded team in overwhelming its first two opponents in Buffalo, New York, and advancing to the Sweet Sixteen. Michigan (33-3) will play fourth-seeded Alabama (25-9) in Chicago on Friday.

Lendeborg’s presence and persona have been impossible to miss since Selection Sunday.

It was a week he began by creating a headline-grabbing stir in revealing he chose to accept far less money to play at Michigan over Kentucky. And it’s one he closed on Saturday with a 25-point outing, punctuated by a massive dunk, in a 95-72 second-round romp over Saint Louis.

“Two words, Dominican LeBron,” teammate Nimari Burnett said of Lendeborg’s dunk in transition keying a decisive second-half surge.

“It’s as simple as those two words, but also just his aggression going to the basket,” Burnett added. “We were up by 10 or so, but it gave us another boost to extend the lead.”

Sensing the momentum Lendeborg created, coach Dusty May immediately applied the screws by pressuring Saint Louis coming up the court and suffocating any last gasp of a comeback.

For Lendeborg, the dunk came in light of concerns he expressed over Michigan’s second-half-starting sluggishness that cost the Wolverines in a 80-72 loss to Purdue in the Big Ten championship tournament title game.

“We’re just learning from our mistakes against Purdue. We let them step away,” he said. “When (Saint Louis) started going on their run, it went back to leaning on each other and playing poised and believing we can compete with anybody.”

This is the type of aggression and single-minded focus May sought entering his second season at Michigan, and in the aftermath of a 78-65 loss to Auburn in the round of 16 a year ago. The Wolverines withered in being outscored 39-17 over the final 12 minutes.

In response, they added size in 7-foot-3 Mara (out of UCLA) and 6-9 forwards Yendeborg and Morez Johnson Jr. (Illinois), and a play-maker in guard Elliot Cadeau (North Carolina), who became Michigan’s seventh player to top 200 assists in a season.

The additions have so far paid off on a team that’s matched a program record for victories, went 9-2 against ranked opponents and became the Big Ten’s first to go unbeaten in conference play since Indiana in 1975-76.

“We’re a better team. We’re better coaches. We’re better players. That’s just part of the growth process,” said Day, who guided Florida Atlantic to a Final Four appearance in 2023 during his previous four-year stint in Boca Raton. “We’ve earned the right to go to Chicago.”

Saint Louis coach Josh Schertz was wowed by the Wolverines’ depth of talent, unrelenting attack and what he referred to as “an intelligently constructed roster.”

“Obviously, Michigan has great NIL, but you see a lot of teams that are poorly constructed that pay a lot of money,” Schertz said. “Dusty’s team, the pieces really fit well together.”

Burnett, a graduate student completing his third season at Michigan, can see the difference from last season.

“I think with this group, our size, our length, our speed, you combine that and we’re going to Chicago looking forward to the matchup and ready to come out with a win,” Burnett said.

The comment caught the attention of Lendeborg, who immediately corrected Burnett by holding up two fingers and saying: “two, two wins.”

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