My SB Nation colleague Ricky O’Donnell recently projected all three members of Michigan’s starting front court from this past season — Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr. — to be taken in the Top 15 of this summer’s NBA Draft. CBS Sports also projected that very same thing recently, as have other NBA writers from ‘round the internet since the NBA Combine, when Johnson put on a show in front of scouts and evaluators.
If that exact situation comes to fruition, it would be the first time
since 1990 the program had three first-round picks in a single draft (Terry Mills, Rumeal Robinson and Loy Vaught). That would be a major accomplishment, but beyond that potential historical accolade, what this trio has done for head coach Dusty May’s ability to recruit big men moving forward is, in my opinion, the more significant part of this story.
After turning three big men into draft picks this year — as well as Danny Wolf last year— May is now convincingly able to tell every forward/center that if they come to Michigan, they will be drafted following their college career. It doesn’t matter if that player is in the transfer portal or the high school ranks, as May now has a track record of turning college big men into professional ballplayers.
Lendeborg was a borderline first-round pick before transferring to Michigan last offseason. He elevated his stock even more in Ann Arbor by being named a First-Team All-American, winning the Big Ten Player of the Year and helping Michigan win the national championship — knee/ankle injury vs Arizona in the Final Four be damned.
Yes, Lendeborg is among the draft’s oldest prospects this year (he will be 24 when the season starts), but he is also one of the most pro-ready prospects. He has been compared to Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon for his ability to defend multiple positions, and rebound and score efficiently. Lendeborg did all those things on many different occasions last season, and all it took was one year with May and his staff to turn him into a top prospect. Lendeborg has even said his lone season at Michigan made a huge difference on him both personally and professionally.
“I think it might be the best decision I’ve ever made in my life,” Lendeborg said at the NBA Combine about withdrawing from last year’s draft go to to Michigan. “I learned so much in the game of basketball, outside of it as well. I went through trial and error. I got to be under the spotlight for the first time. It was amazing. It was the best decision. When I went and decided to go back to Michigan, it was to develop better habits and become a better pro so when I get here next year … I’m feeling a lot more comfortable and ready. It all worked out. Everything went well and fell into place. I’ve learned the game a lot more this year, as well. Dusty taught me a lot — a lot that I really needed, a lot of valuable tools, as far as being professional. He really helped me out and molded me into a better young man and better player.”
Meanwhile, Mara and Johnson went from bench players at UCLA and Illinois, respectively, to highly sought after NBA prospects after one season at Michigan. Like Lendeborg, this is an extraordinary development win for May — taking a pair of guys that weren’t fully utilized at their previous program and turning them into players that NBA front offices now covet. That is the exact type of thing that spreads like a wildfire in recruiting circles; any big man that feels he isn’t being properly developed at his current school can now take a good look at Michigan as a go-to transfer destination to get to the promised land of the NBA.
“Once he finds something that might work, he’s going to try his best and he’s going to learn about that so he can tell guys the best way so we can understand and we can do it on the court,” Mara said of May at the NBA Combine. “A lot of praise for him for that, because he was the main reason why we played like that this year, and that’s why we’re here (at the Combine), us as players.”
Michigan is now positioned to use the success of Lendeborg, Mara and Johnson as a recruiting tool in a way that very few programs can. In fact, this success has already helped Michigan reload through the portal this offseason by acquiring forward Jalen Reed (LSU), forward/center J.P. Estrella (Tennessee) and center Moustapha Thiam (Cincinnati). The Wolverines are now reloaded in the front court and ready to defend their Big Ten and national crowns, thanks in large part to Lendeborg, Mara and Johnson.
Michigan has turned into a program where big men not only come to win, but to be turned into NBA players. As long as May is the head man in charge in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines will have a chance to get any big man they want on the recruiting trail or in the transfer portal.
