Yaxel Lendeborg went from playing one varsity season at Pennsauken High School to an NBA lottery pick.
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The 23-year-old forward, who starred at Michigan this past season, was picked No. 11 overall by Golden State in the first round on Tuesday night.
Expressing emotion when hearing his name called at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Lendeborg embraced his mother, Yissel, in tears.
He said in the ESPN broadcast that, “I don’t deserve to be here right now. I didn’t have the traditional path. … I can’t believe it.”
Lendeborg thought his basketball career was over. He played in just 11 games his senior after being academically ineligible to play for his sophomore and junior seasons.
That was until an opportunity arose — thanks to his mother — at the junior college level with Arizona Western College.
“That kid got here because of her,” Lendeborg said on the broadcast. “She pushed a dream, forced me to go out there and become a man.”
He spent three seasons at Arizona Western, where he emerged in his third year, averaging 17.2 points and 13 rebounds. In 2023, he transferred to Alabama-Birmingham and played two seasons with the Blazers.
In his final season at UAB, he averaged 17.7 points and 11.4 rebounds. He also was named the American Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year and an all-conference selection twice.
The 6-foot-9 Lendeborg graduated from UAB in 2025 and entered the transfer portal for his final year of eligibility, which brought him to Michigan, where he won Big Ten Player of the Year and an NCAA title.
Lendeborg also averaged 15.1 points and 6.8 rebounds in 40 games for the Wolverines.
Tuesday was the second time in program history that Michigan had three players drafted in the first round.
Center Aday Mara was picked by the Oklahoma City Thunder at No. 12 and forward Morez Johnson Jr. went ninth overall to the Mavericks, reuniting with his college coach, Dusty May, who was recently named the new head coach for Dallas.
After he was selected, Lendeborg said his mother told him, “We did it. All the sacrifice we made, we finally accomplished it — you did it.”
He’ll join a Golden State team that finished 10th in the Western Conference and a 37-45 record this past season.
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