Yaxel Lendeborg, who transferred to Ann Arbor for one season and led Michigan basketball to its greatest season in program history, was taken No. 11 overall by the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft on Tuesday, June 23.
Lendeborg came to Michigan with high expectations as the No. 1 available prospect in the transfer portal last offseason and still outperformed the high expectations.
He was a consensus first team All-American, the Big Ten Player of the Year, earned a spot on the Big Ten all-defensive team and helped do all the little things Michigan needed.
Lendeborg’s numbers were solid, but not overwhelming, leading Michigan with 15.1 points per game, tying for second with 6.8 rebounds along with 3.2 assists and more than a block and a steal a night.
“He’s so unselfish, he’s so, I don’t know how to say it, just he wants to be one of the guys,” former Michigan coach Dusty May said during the Final Four. “[Our guys have] encouraged him to be more aggressive, to shoot more, to hunt some more individual accolades all year and he simply refused because he didn’t care about any of those things.
“It allowed us to have a real selfless group … I think he still has no idea how good he is.”
Lendeborg played in all 40 games for U-M with 39 starts, scoring in double figures 31 times with 10 games of 20 or more.
That included a three-game stretch in the middle of the 2026 NCAA Tournament where he scored 23 or more in each game, highlighted by 27 points against Tennessee in the Elite Eight and 23 and 12 rebounds against Alabama in the Sweet 16 − one of his seven double-doubles on the year.
If there’s any hesitation about Lendeborg as a prospect, it’s due to his age, as he turns 24 in September. That’s on the older side for a typical lottery pick selection, but May says that Lendeborg has plenty of untapped potential.
“I don’t really spend a lot of time thinking about things we can’t control – can’t reverse age,” May said to the Free Press. “He doesn’t have the same level of sport-specific training for the last 15 years, and he doesn’t really rely on his athleticism to be a good player, relies primarily on his mind.
“I think he’s got a very, very bright NBA future.”
At the college level, Lendeborg was an elite rebounder, superb passer and versatile in his ability to play inside or out and finish at all three levels. He shot 51% or better from the floor all three seasons at the Division I level, including 51.5% with U-M, to go with a career-best 37.2% from 3.
Lendeborg defied the odds making it to the NBA after beginning his career at the junior college level and delivering U-M the best season in program history with its most wins (37), a Big Ten record in wins (19) and most importantly a national championship.
Lendeborg had ups and downs in the season, including injuries to his thumb, calf, ankle and MCL. He faced scrutiny about a video that surfaced in February where he said “when we see Purdue we gonna spank they [expletive].”
He also had rival fanbases who said he was the ringleader of a group of players who all transferred to Ann Arbor solely for money. They were dubbed “mercenaries” on the outside.
“Being in this situation, I’ve had the best year of my life,” Lendeborg said in March. “If that’s what they want to call mercenary, I would love to be a mercenary. That’s cool with me.”
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan star, goes No. 11 to Warriors in 2026 NBA Draft
Reporting by Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
