Michigan's Yaxel Lendeborg Credits His Mother With Turning His Life Around

Meet Basketball Star Yaxel Lendeborg’s Parents Michael Reaves - Getty Images "Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links. " Yaxel Lendeborg had a decision to make in the spring of 2025: enter the NBA draft as a projected first-round pick or return to college for one more season. He chose Michigan, which reportedly offered $3 million in NIL compensation.

At the same time, he reportedly turned down a much higher offer from Kentucky, reportedly in the range of $7 million to $9 million . The gamble on one more college season proved well-founded as Michigan made it to the 2026 NCAA Men’s Final Four , and he went on to become a consensus All-American and the Big Ten Player of the Year with the Wolverines. Born September 30, 2002, in Puerto Rico, Yaxel moved to Ohio with his family at age two before settling in New Jersey at age eight.

He began his college career at Arizona Western before transferring to University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in 2023. In April 2025, he transferred again to Michigan. He entered the 2025 NBA draft process shortly after, was projected as a late first-round or early second-round pick—a range that carried a potential four-year rookie contract worth around $14 million— before withdrawing in May .

Yaxel with his parents, Okary (left) and Yissel (right) after the Elite Eight round of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament on March 29. Michael Reaves - Getty Images In a recent essay for The Players’ Tribune , titled “ How My Mom Saved My Life ,” Yaxel wrote about how his mother’s efforts especially guided him on the long and hard but ultimately successful path to Ann Arbor, Michigan. “Because there were literally hundreds of times over the years when my mom could’ve given up on me.