College Star Yaxel Lendeborg Skipped NBA for Championship

Yaxel Lendeborg looked up into the packed United Center stands Friday night and soaked it all in. Just ten months ago, he made one of the biggest gambles in college basketball: walking away from a probable first-round NBA draft spot to play one more year at Michigan.

The bet paid off in spectacular fashion. Lendeborg dominated Alabama with 23 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists, leading Michigan to a 90-77 victory and their record-breaking 34th win of the season.

"I could have easily messed up my draft stock," the 6'10" forward admits. "I came here wanting to be a champion, wanted to put myself on a higher stage and prove myself even more."

His journey to this moment makes the triumph even sweeter. Lendeborg played just 11 total high school basketball games after getting kicked off his freshman team for poor grades. He spent his sophomore and junior years not playing at all, admitting he mostly played video games.

His mother Yissel changed everything. "She dug me out of the hole I was in," Lendeborg says. Without her intervention, he might not have even graduated high school.

Now his teammates call him "Dominican LeBron," and he plays with constant joy that's impossible to miss. Before practice Thursday, he danced and sang to "Call Me Maybe" in the arena tunnels. During games, he's always smiling, even while crossing defenders out of their shoes.

"It's impossible not to like him," says point guard Elliot Cadeau. "Happy all the time. He's the same way every second of every day."

Why This Inspires

Lendeborg's mother Yissel was in the stands Friday despite battling cancer. She has a special call she makes whenever he gets the ball, and he can somehow hear it above thousands of fans.

"I hear the noise, and it's like, I must have an opening that I don't see, so I just go," he explains. The majority of the time, something good happens.

His transformation from a high school dropout risk to projected top-10 NBA pick shows what believing in yourself can accomplish. He chose the harder path when easier money was waiting, and now he's two wins away from a national championship.

The 23-year-old often gets emotional thinking about how far he's come, and you can see why.