UAB Star May Be Pricey, but Should Be Worth It for Hogs

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — There's not a whole lot not to like about UAB transfer Yaxel Lendeborg.

That is except the potential price tag he's probably going to bring with him. Arkansas is currently listed as one of the teams in on Lendeborg in addition to the Kentucky Wildcats and the usual high dollar suspects around college basketball.

UAB transfer Yaxel Lendeborg is one of the top available players in the portal.

The latest intel in his recruitment 👀 | Read (On3+): https://t.co/lUAO1SazOH pic.twitter.com/72WpvCPKTx
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) April 1, 2025

However, in addition to a bidding war with programs with the deepest pockets in the sport, Lendeborg projects to be a late first round pick in the upcoming NBA draft. That immediately starts the bidding at a much higher price.

The No. 30 pick is going to reportedly draw somewhere around $2.5 million, so the fact Lendeborg is taking visits indicates teams are offering large money to keep him around the college game for another year. According to his coach, former Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy, teams started courting Lendeborg halfway through the season.

So, if he's worth all this trouble and expense, what exactly is it coaches expect to get in return? Well, it doesn't exact take a deep dive to see where the intrigue might be.

For starters, at 6-foot-9, and 240 pounds packed onto a body gifted with natural quickness, Lendeborg is perfectly built for the SEC. However, the conference is littered with guys who have the body, but not the motor to compete.

That's where the stats line shuts down all remaining questions. He averages 18 points, over 11 rebounds and over four assists per game while shooting over 50%.

That's filling up a stat box and telling people there's hustle without saying there's hustle. Plus, as far as mid-majors go, the AAC has built a reputation of being a hotbed of future Power Four talent.

For comparison, Zhuric Phelps came to Texas A&M from the AAC and put up 13.6 points, five rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. Meanwhile, Johnell Davis, also from the AAC, became a force for Arkansas once he got healed, including 71 points in his three NCAA Tournament games.

And while the stats are nice, what's more assuring for coaches is what Kennedy had to say about Lendeborg during a one-on-one interview on Tik-Tok.

"The kid is tremendous," Kennedy told the Next Round Live podcast mid-season. "He is a better person than he is a player. He has the chance to be one of the all-time greatest in the history of this program."

One thing about Kennedy is he has always been brutally honest, especially when it comes to player evaluations. Considering he knew teams were gunning for his star at the time, there was no incentive to throw extra gas on the fire by volunteering the quality of the man's character.

Still, while there's already plenty available to start a bidding war, it's always worth it to turn on the tape and get a better feel for whether a player can truly translate to the rough and tumble SEC or NBA.

Perhaps the best way to describe his game is to ask fans to picture a much larger Ricky Council. He's got the same motor and game, just add three inches of height and 35 pounds of lean muscle.

The biggest thing he can bring to Arkansas is versatility. He can hit from everywhere on the floor, including a great mid-range game.

However, when he drives to the basket, people get out of the way whether they want to or not because his speed and size moves them. He's built to be a foul drawing machine while finishing shots at the basket.

Also, like Council, there will be times when he decides to aggressively go to the rim for a dunk and all anyone can do is watch as the momentum shifts and the place explodes. And for those fans who lose their minds at Razorbacks watching their shots and refusing to follow an obvious miss in an effort to get the rebound, Lendeborg is their Prozac.

He has a knack for not only following his shot for the rebound, but assessing the situation and immediately having a plan for what he's going to do with the ball as soon as he snags it. This means if he and forward Trevon Brazile can get on the same page, there will be plenty of opportunity for highlight dunks coming from the back side. on offensive rebounds.

The biggest thing for Arkansas coach John Calipari is the mismatches he will create. Lendeborg will immediately be one of the biggest three-point threats and also the biggest threat everywhere else on the court any time he's in the game.

This means he will be a constant mismatch at all times. Big guys will get left in the dust if they try to come out and guard him on the perimeter and smaller players will get plowed over.

There's not a lot of defensive footage on him, but the one thing that does stand out is when he's guarding low in the paint, he appears to do a good job of getting straight up and down. That's reflected in him logging tons of minutes and having only fouled out twice, both times in back-to-back games early in the season.

Over his final six games, he had three where he played 40 or more minutes, with 36 minutes being his least playing time in the others, and he never once drew his fifth foul. That kind of reliability and conditioning in someone as big as he is while running as if he's a guard all game is invaluable.

There's definitely enough there to make a coach continuously check his team's bank account and weigh how much can be allocated to a single player. However, with Arkansas both in the Nate Ament sweepstakes and in the running for Lendeborg, chances are there's only enough for one.

With three freshmen already on board, Calipari might fall back on the lesson he says he's recently learned. Money is better spent on a proven college player with high upside than a high school player who has to grow into the role without any proof he can do it at this level.

Both have similar games. Lendeborg just has a much better one at the moment and Arkansas may never see Ament develop to that high of a level before leaving for the NBA.

If it comes down between the two, the best money is probably backing Lendeborg.

UAB Star May Be Pricey, but Should Be Worth It for Hogs

HOGS FEED:

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• Graphic blunder for Ament, Hogs' duo impress in All-American game

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• Calipari cashes in big on Razorbacks' tournament success

• Grad transfer wide receiver popping up on Razorbacks' radar