It got a little dusty when Yaxel Lendeborg heard the news.
The Big Ten Player of the Year and expected lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft said he “almost cried” when he found out his former Michigan coach Dusty May was making the jump to the NBA’s Mavericks.
“I know I’m not playing there next year, but I felt heartbroken,” Lendeborg said Monday at NBA draft media day. “I’m happy for him. He deserves it, he’s a really good coach, really good guy.”
May is reportedly finalizing a deal to join Dallas after leading the Wolverines to their first national championship since 1989.
Lendeborg, like most of the college basketball world, was shocked May took the job. Two other Wolverines, Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr., also expected to be first-round picks, echoed the sentiment.
May spent just two years in Ann Arbor and compiled a 64-13 record, a Big Ten Tournament championship, a Big Ten regular-season title, and back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances.
He had four years left on his contract extension signed in 2025, and he will owe the school $5 million for leaving prematurely.
May joins Dallas with just one day to prepare for the No. 9 draft pick the Mavericks hold, but could find some familiarity in prospects by drafting one of his former Michigan players.
Johnson seems the least likely to reunite with May at the Mavericks, saying he has not been in contact with them.
Lendeborg and Mara, however, have both talked with Dallas and expressed interest in heading to the Lone Star State.
“[May] better draft me or I’ll be upset,” Lendeborg joked.
Mara was a little less direct but said the workout with Dallas went great, though he has not heard from May.
The Mavericks could also get another shot at either player should they fall to their second, No. 30 pick.
Regardless of the outcome in Tuesday’s draft, all three former Michigan players are confident May will find success in the pro game — partially, as Johnson put it, because “he coached like an NBA coach already.”
Johnson, Lendeborg, and Mara were recruited to the Wolverines with NIL and a chance to win a title a season ago, which they say helped May learn how to manage talent and deal with egos.
“One of his abilities is being able to learn and being able to change the game,” Mara said. “He is obsessed with basketball, so if he needs to change something or if he needs to do something else that he didn’t do in college, he will do it.”
