Yaxel Lendeborg finally finds the spotlight at Michigan in leading Wolverines to Sweet 16 berth
BUFFALO, N. Y. — 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. Creating stirs on and off the court 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.