The Big Ten Player of the Year reportedly passed on a $7 to $9 million NIL deal from Kentucky to play for Dusty May, and with Michigan entering the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed, he is determined to
Michigan enters the 2026 NCAA Tournament at 31-3, seeded first in its region and carrying the kind of collective confidence that tends to either define a team or expose it. The Wolverines have posted an average scoring margin of plus-17 points per game this season, and star forward Yaxel Lendeborg has been at the center of nearly everything that has made them this difficult to stop.
Lendeborg, the Big Ten Player of the Year, has been direct about what Michigan is playing for. The program wants a national championship and has structured its entire approach around that singular goal, from practice habits to roster construction to the mental framework the players carry into every game. The loss to Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament championship last weekend left a mark, but Lendeborg described it as motivation rather than a setback, the kind of bad taste a competitive team uses to sharpen its focus rather than lose it.
Michigan opens tournament play Thursday against No. 16 seed Howard in Buffalo. Six wins stand between the Wolverines and what would be only the second national title in program history.
From UAB to Ann Arbor to the lottery
Lendeborg’s path to this moment is not a straight line. Two years ago he was playing for UAB as a 12-seed in the tournament, overwhelmed by the scale of the moment and surrounded by teammates who were equally new to the experience. The growth between that version of him and the player leading Michigan’s title chase is significant enough that NBA front offices are paying close attention.
In USA TODAY’s latest mock draft, Lendeborg is projected to go eighth overall to the Memphis Grizzlies, making him one of the more NBA-ready prospects in the 2026 class. His case is built on his numbers at Michigan, where he averages 17.7 points, seven rebounds and 3.2 assists per game while shooting 50.9% from the field and 35.3% from three. The combination of size, versatility and two-way impact has answered the questions that followed him out of a mid-major program and into one of the most scrutinized conferences in college basketball.
Memphis, in the process of rebuilding after trading away Jaren Jackson Jr., is projected to see Lendeborg as a cornerstone piece alongside other recent draft additions. His ability to guard multiple positions, operate in the pick-and-roll, score in a variety of ways and anchor a defense gives him a profile that translates cleanly to the next level.
The decision that defined this season
Before arriving in Ann Arbor, Lendeborg reportedly turned down an NIL package worth between $7 million and $9 million from Kentucky to play for Dusty May at Michigan. The figure would have represented roughly three times what he is earning with the Wolverines. He chose the program, the coach and the roster over the larger financial opportunity.
That decision looks different depending on how the tournament unfolds. If Michigan cuts down the nets in Indianapolis, it becomes one of the defining choices of this college basketball era. If the Wolverines fall short, the conversation will be more complicated. Lendeborg does not appear to be spending much time on either version of that analysis.
What makes this Michigan team different
The roster Dusty May built through the transfer portal is genuinely loaded, and Lendeborg has spoken at length about what makes this group function at such a high level. The frontcourt combination of Lendeborg, power forward Morez Johnson Jr. and center Aday Mara gives Michigan a size and versatility advantage that most opponents cannot match. The team’s ability to switch defensively across four or five positions has been among its most disruptive qualities all season.
Point guard Elliott Cadeau serves as the engine that controls the tempo and creates advantages for everyone around him. His gravity off ball screens forces defenses to commit, opening space for Lendeborg and others to operate. Guard L.J. Cason’s season-ending injury created a depth challenge, but Trey McKenney has stepped into a larger role as the tournament begins.
Lendeborg described the team’s core characteristic simply. Everyone accepted a reduced individual role in service of a shared goal, and that collective buy-in has produced a program-record run heading into March.