Yaxel Lendeborg

About

American Dominican basketball player known for playing as a forward for the Michigan Wolverines after previously competing for Arizona Western Matadors and UAB Blazers.

Before fame

He began playing organized basketball relatively late starting when he was around 15 years old. He developed his basketball skills playing for Pennsauken High School until he graduated in 2020. He enrolled at Arizona Western College and began playing for the Matadors and became one of the top junior college players in the country. He transferred to the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2023 to play for the Blazers. He transferred to the University of Michigan to play for the Wolverines in 2025. 

Trivia

He was named Big Ten Player of the Year in 2026, earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in 2026, was selected to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team in 2026, and became a consensus first-team All-American in 2026.

Family life

He is of Dominican descent. He was born in Puerto Rico. His family moved to Ohio when he was 2 years old before he was raised in Pennsauken, New Jersey. He comes from an athletic family with his mother Yissel Raposo having played volleyball for the Dominican Republic national team. His father also played basketball in the Dominican Republic. He has three sisters including Yisendy Lendeborg who also played basketball at Pennsauken High School.

Associated with

He became Michigan's first Big Ten Player of the Year in 2026 since Trey Burke in 2013.