Yaxel Lendeborg’s journey has been anything but ordinary.
Lendeborg was born in Puerto Rico to Dominican parents and moved to Pennsauken, N.J., at age 8. Both of his parents played for the Dominican Republic’s national team, but their son didn’t begin playing organized hoops until he was 15.
A breakout star at Pennsauken High, Lendeborg was cut from the team his freshman year for poor academic performance, causing him to miss his sophomore and junior seasons. He rejoined the varsity team for the last 11 games of his senior year, 10 of which Pennsauken won.
After graduating from high school, Lendeborg first attended junior college at Arizona Western before moving on to the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He then left for Ann Arbor and won the national championship with Michigan in March, also taking home the Big Ten Player of the Year award in his senior season.
Lendeborg almost wasn’t a part of the Wolverines team that won the program’s second-ever national title. He initially declared for the 2025 draft but withdrew and transferred to Michigan, where a sizable NIL contract awaited him. Lendeborg made the decision to avoid a potentially complicated route through the NBA and raised his stock in his senior year.
“I didn’t feel, in a way, that I was ready for the NBA lifestyle,” Lendeborg told reporters in predraft availability Monday. “I felt like if I had made it to the league, I wouldn’t have lasted a week in there. I was very weak-minded, and ultimately I just wasn’t ready.
“This has been the first year where I felt super confident in myself and was able to overcome most obstacles,” Lendeborg shared.
In the lead-up to the 2025 draft, he was considered a fringe first-rounder. Now, he is considered a top prospect and received a green room invite for the 2026 draft, where he anticipates his name being called in the first round Tuesday night, likely as a late lottery pick.
Through everything, Lendeborg has never felt his support system waver.
“Everybody puts down their selves to pick me up … it’s really nice to have that kind of circle,” he said.
Lendeborg highlighted one thing he wants to maintain as he enters the NBA: “Continuing to bring life to every room and situation that I’m in.”