Dusty May has been the perfect hire for the Michigan Wolverines, bringing the program back to prominence quickly. In his first season, he guided Michigan to a No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament and a Sweet 16 appearance. Making sure star transfer Yaxel Lendeborg withdraws from the NBA Draft and heads to Ann Arbor is imperative to ensuring Year 2 will be a better year.
The Wolverines approached year 2 the same way they approached year 1. They would use their immense NIL dollars and history to acquire elite talent from the transfer portal. Coach May used that philosophy last year to acquire Tre Donaldson from Auburn, Danny Wolf from Yale, Vlad Goldin from Michigan, Roddy Gayle Jr. from Ohio State, Sam Walters from Alabama, and Rubin Jones from North Texas.
Every one of those players had an impact on the resurgence of the Michigan program, and they all contributed to winning. The unfortunate part of the transfer portal is that those players don't stick around at your program very long, usually because they don't have four years of eligibility left, but also because they get better offers somewhere else after a year in the program.
The Wolverines did have some key losses: Danny Wolf, Vlad Goldin, Rubin Jones, and Sam Walters. Walters transferred along with top recruits Phat Phat Brooks and Justin Pippen. Nimari Burnett, a holdover from the Juwan Howard days, also graduated. It was evident that Coach May had a lot of holes to fill.
The head coach filled the holes with better players and has put Michigan in a prime position to be a top-five team when the preseason rankings come out. Elliot Cadeau is a transfer from North Carolina. Cadeau is an elite passer and defender who will upgrade the backcourt of any team that he plays on.
Cadeau is a nice piece, but the frontcourt sets Michigan apart from the rest of the Big 10. The Wolverines will have another dominant piece to the frontcourt in Morez Johnson. Johnson is an athletically gifted big man who is borderline elite when the conversation shifts to his ability to rebound and block shots.
Johnson is a great player and would be the anchor of most transfer classes, but he alone doesn't give Michigan the pure and utter domination in the frontcourt that Yaxel Lendeborg does. Lendeborg is a transfer from UAB. The big man is one of the best all-around players in the country. He has averaged a double-double in both of his years in college and has done so while shooting over 50% from the floor, 35% from three, 77% from the line, and blocking two shots per game.
It sounds like Coach May and the Wolverines have it made, right? Wrong. Players as talented as Lendeborg don't often miss their opportunity to play in the NBA, and the big man from New Jersey is no different. Lendeborg is currently undergoing the draft process while maintaining his college eligibility. The problem is that the newest big man for Coach May doesn't seem likely to withdraw from the NBA draft, thus ending his college career.
Over the last week, the big man has said he is "50-50" on returning to college to play his final season in Ann Arbor and would return if he knew he was not going to be a top-20 pick. If that is the stipulation, that might mean good news for Michigan. According to the CBS Sports Mock Draft, the big man is projected to go to the Wizards at pick 30, the last pick of the first round.
Why did Lendeborg say top 20? Usually, players given a top 20 grade are guaranteed to go in the first round. Anything under the top 20 could bleed into the second round. There is no reason to believe that Lendeborg won't be a star in the NBA, but he may not get drafted until the second round, which will make it harder for him to get immediate playing time.
Lendeborg could use an extra year of seasoning under coach May. If he dominates and proves that he can come close to his career numbers in one of the premier conferences in the country, he should have no problem finding his way into the first round next year. That is, if the big man chooses not to stay in the draft this season.
Michigan and head coach Dusty May will likely have a successful season that results in an NCAA Tournament appearance. However, if they can get Lendeborg to campus, it will likely be the difference between just an NCAA Tournament appearance and a potential Final Four. The Lendeborg decision will have a huge impact on the entire Big Ten, not just for Michigan. If he decides to come back to school, the sky is the limit for Dusty May in year 2.