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 has hovered over the Wolverines program — and many others — in the modern age of NIL, the transfer portal, bidding wars and constant shuffling of rosters.
“I think the transfer portal helps out a lot of kids, especially me,” said Lendeborg, a graduate senior and the Big Ten Player of the Year, who, along with Mara, was among Michigan’s four key offseason additions.
“Being in this situation, I’ve had the best year of my life. 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 Alabama-Birmingham — the multitalented 23-year-old 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 to overwhelming victories over its first two opponents last weekend in Buffalo, N.Y., to advance to the Sweet 16. Michigan (33-3) will play fourth-seeded Alabama (25-9) on Friday at the United Center.
Creating stirs on and off the court
Lendeborg’s presence and persona have been impossible to miss since Selection Sunday.
He began the week by creating a headline-grabbing stir in revealing that he chose to accept far less money to play at Michigan over Kentucky. And he closed the week Saturday with a 25-point outing, punctuated by a massive dunk, in a 95-72 second-round romp over Saint Louis.
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“Two words: Dominican LeBron,” teammate and Chicago native Nimari Burnett said of Lendeborg’s dunk in transition that keyed a decisive second-half surge.
“It’s as simple as those two words, but also just his aggression going to the basket. 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 sluggishness to start the second half, which cost the Wolverines in an 80-72 loss to Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament title game at the UC.
“We’re just learning from our mistakes against Purdue. We let them step away,” he said. “When (the Billikens) started going on their run, it went back to leaning on each other and playing poised and believing we can compete with anybody.”
Adding size and aggression
This is the type of aggression and single-minded focus May sought entering his second season at Michigan, in the aftermath of a 78-65 loss to Auburn in the Sweet 16 a year ago. The Wolverines withered over the final 12 minutes, getting outscored 39-17.
In response, they added size in the 7-foot-3 Mara (from UCLA) and 6-9 forwards Lendeborg and Morez Johnson Jr. (Illinois) and a playmaker in guard Elliot Cadeau (North Carolina), who became Michigan’s seventh player to top 200 assists in a season.
The additions have paid off so far on a team that has matched a program record for victories, went 9-2 against ranked opponents and finished the regular season 19-1 in Big Ten play.
“We’re a better team. We’re better coaches. We’re better players. That’s just part of the growth process,” said May, who guided Florida Atlantic to a Final Four appearance in 2023 during his 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.
“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.”