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Newsstand: Michigan basketball transfer portal class ranked by ESPN

Anthony Broomeby: Anthony Broome06/10/25anthonytbroome
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The Michigan Wolverines brought in one of the top transfer portal classes in the country this offseason, headlined by the addition of No. 1 overall player Yaxel Lendeborg from UAB.

The talented forward headlines a class that ESPN calls the third-best in the country and also includes a pair of bigs from Big Ten schools (Morez Johnson Jr., Aday Mara) and a former point guard from North Carolina in Elliot Cadeau.

“Dusty May had Danny Wolf, one of last season’s most impactful transfers, and he should have one again in Lendeborg, who withdrew from the NBA draft at the deadline despite being a projected first-round pick,” ESPN wrote. “He’s likely to be one of three transfer starters for the Wolverines, who are bringing in four players ranked in the top 51 of ESPN’s top 100 transfers. Johnson and Mara are poised for breakout seasons, while Cadeau holds the keys to Michigan’s 2025-26 season.”

Last season, he was a star at UAB, averaging 17.7 points, 11.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.7 assists per game while shooting 52.2% from the field and 35.7% from three-point range. May and the Wolverines feel like they have their biggest weapon now in town.

“We’ll just simply use him as a weapon, as a queen on the chess board, like Derik Queen at Maryland, like Danny Wolf — guys that can create and make plays,” May said recently. “Obviously, Vlad had a lot to do with Danny’s success, and then the shooting and cutting ability of [guards] Nimari [Burnett] and Roddy [Gayle Jr.] and Tre [Donaldson] and those guys. So, a lot goes into it, but we do think with Aday, his ability to play above the rim, his ability to pass it, we’ll have some unique abilities on offense again because of the size and skill level of those guys.”

Tweets of the day

Michigan quote of the day

“One of the things that was the most appealing about coming to Michigan, that guys like Rod Moore, they make a big play in a big game. And it’s the biggest play in the biggest game of the season. And you know that you’re on this stage. He said absolutely that that was part of it. And they wanna play in the Michigan/Ohio State rivalry. They wanna play against the best teams in the country. And you can do that in the SEC. But the difference between Arkansas and Michigan is that you’re probably gonna be on one of the better teams in the country at Michigan.”

– TheWolverine.com’s Clayton Sayfie on TJ and Tevis Metcalf’s potential impact at Michigan

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