Michigan F Yaxel Lendeborg Brings Home Some Hardware

On Thursday afternoon, it was announced that Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg won the Riley Wallace Award. The award is given to the most impactful Division 1 basketball transfer.

Lendeborg was the top-ranked transfer available this past offseason after starring at UAB. He flirted with the NBA Draft, but chose to return to collegiate basketball and play for Dusty May. In his lone season with the Wolverines, Lendeborg was named the Big Ten Player of the Year and was also named an All-American.

Yaxel is the recipient of the 2026 Riley Wallace Award for most impactful Division I basketball transfer! pic.twitter.com/Ki7KWtwNU4
— Michigan Men's Basketball (@umichbball) April 2, 2026

Lendeborg's impact at Michigan

It can't be undersold just how important Lendeborg has been to Michigan's success. The Wolverines are in Indianapolis right now preparing for a Final Four contest with Arizona, and Michigan's success has been in large part due to Lendeborg.

He isn't the most prolific scorer out there, but Lendeborg led the Maize and Blue in scoring, putting up 14.7 points per game in the regular season.

At times, Lendeborg was a little too passive.

Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg (23) and center Aday Mara (15) cheer — Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"It took him a while, and I think our guys have constantly reminded him," May said regarding Lendeborg finding another gear. "He's so unselfish. He's so -- I don't know how to say it. He wants to be one of the guys. They've encouraged him to be more aggressive, to shoot more, to hunt some more individual accolades all year, and he simply refused because he didn't care about any of those things.

"It's allowed us to have a real selfless group, and it's improved our environment because he's been so unselfish but he still has no idea how good he is."

But once he went from allowing the game come to him to being the hunter — Lendeborg is nearly unstoppable. He can shoot the long ball, averaging over 35% from three, he can shoot from midrange, and can put his head down and attack the rim. The three-level scorer also impacts the game in other areas.

He is one of the best defenders on the team. It's not uncommon to see Dusty May put Lendeborg on the opposition's best player. He is a fierce rebounder, grabbing seven rebounds per game, and enjoys to get his teammates involved, dishing out over three assists per game.

In Michigan's NCAA Tournament run, Lendeborg has put on a show. In his last three games, he has scored 25, 23, and 27 points, respectively.

With Arizona up next and a chance to play for a national title on the line, Michigan will need another strong outing from Lendeborg.