What Blue Ribbon college basketball preview says about Michigan ahead of 2025-26 campaign

Michigan Wolverines basketball began preseason practices this week ahead of the 2025-26 campaign, and there’s a lot of buzz surrounding the program. Blue Ribbon Magazine recently released its college basketball preseason yearbook, and here’s a breakdown of what it says about head coach Dusty May‘s crew.

Yaxel Lendeborg a first-team preseason All-American

Michigan graduate forward Yaxel Lendeborg was tabbed as a preseason first-team All-American, along with Texas Tech forward JT Toppin, Florida center Alex Condon, Auburn guard Tahaad Pettiford and Purdue point guard Braden Smith.

Last season at UAB, Lendeborg averaged 17.7 points, 11.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.7 steals per game, while shooting 54.9 percent on twos and 36.2 percent on 69 three-point attempts.

The 6-foot-9, 240-pounder entered the 2025 NBA Draft and was a projected first-round pick but withdrew in favor of playing a season with the Wolverines.

Lendeborg is a legitimate national player of the year candidate entering the season, and a difference-maker like that can give a team tremendous upside.

Michigan ranks No. 9 in preseason top 25

Michigan is No. 9 in the Blue Ribbon preseason top 25, behind No. 1 Florida, No. 2 Purdue, No. 3 Houston, No. 4 Duke, No. 5 Connecticut, No. 6 St. John’s, No. 7 Tennessee and No. 8 Kentucky.

There’s isn’t a steep drop-off between Purdue and Michigan and the other Big Ten contenders, with UCLA checking in No. 12. But the next highest ranked team after that is Illinois at No. 20, and No. 21 Wisconsin is the only other conference foe in the top 25.

Here’s the full top 25:
1. Florida
2. Purdue
3. Houston
4. Duke
5. Connecticut
6. St. John’s
7. Tennessee
8. Kentucky
9. Michigan
10. Louisville
11. Alabama
12. UCLA
13. Auburn
14. Texas Tech
15. Arkansas
16. BYU
17. Iowa State
18. Kansas
19. Creighton
20. Illinois
21. Wisconsin
22. Arizona
23. Gonzaga
24. Texas
25. North Carolina

Blue Ribbon’s projected Michigan starters

Here’s how Blue Ribbon projects Michigan’s starting lineup:

• Junior guard Elliot Cadeau
• Graduate guard Nimari Burnett
• Senior guard Roddy Gayle Jr.
• Graduate forward Yaxel Lendeborg
• Junior center Aday Mara

Blue Ribbon categorized the following players as key reserves: sophomore forward Morez Johnson Jr., sophomore guard L.J. Cason, freshman guard Trey McKenney, graduate forward Will Tschetter, freshman guard Winters Grady, redshirt freshman Oscar Goodman

Blue Ribbon analysis

Blue Ribbon provided analysis on different aspects of the Michigan team heading into the season:
Backcourt: A
Frontcourt: A+
Bench/depth: A+
Intangibles: A