Yaxel Lendeborg career timeline: How Michigan star went from JUCO to Final Four appearance
We take a look back at the college basketball career of Michigan's Yaxel Lendeborg and how he went from JUCO to Final Four.
Yaxel Lendeborg career timeline: How Michigan star went from JUCO to Final Four appearance originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . Yaxel Lendeborg has helped Michigan reach the 2026 Final Four.
He was instrumental in helping the Wolverines earn a No. 1 seed for the 2026 NCAA Tournament, but this is only his first season at a Power 4 school. Lendeborg got his start at junior college, attending Arizona Western for three years.
He then transferred to UAB for two years, and used his last year of eligibility from the COVID-19 pandemic to play at Michigan for the 2025-2026 season. Lendeborg has had a tumultuous basketball journey. He made his high school team as a freshman but was cut for poor academic performance.
He missed his sophomore and junior seasons due to academic struggles. After transferring to a dual-enrollment program at Camden County College, he raised his grades enough to play 11 games of varsity basketball. Lendeborg wasn't able to turn his late-blossoming basketball success into a Division I offer, but went the JUCO route and was motivated enough to work his way up to Michigan.