Ex-coach says $1M in NIL money didn’t even ‘warm up’ Michigan star

Landing big stars in the college basketball transfer portal doesn’t come cheap.

When UAB transfer Yaxel Lendeborg hit the portal last spring, he was a priority target for a lot of programs. After all, the 6-foot-9 Pennsauken, N.J. native was a two-time Defensive Player of the Year who averaged 17.7 points, 11.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists a year ago.

Ex-Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said on TNT Monday that his school offered Lendeborg $1 million and it “wasn’t even enough to warm him up.”

After withdrawing from the NBA Draft, Lendeborg received $3 million when he chose Michigan in April.

“I love the culture [coach] Dusty May has brought to every team that he’s coached,” Lendeborg said then. “When I first started watching college basketball, it was FAU.”

That was near the top echelon for elite transfers. BYU guard Rob Wright received about $3.5 million, per reports.

The move has paid off for Michigan so far.

Lendeborg is averaging 15.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists for the No. 7 Wolverines, who will meet Gonzaga Wednesday night in the Players Era Championship in Las Vegas. The winner will take home $1 million in prize money in addition to the $1 million they got for coming to the event in the first place.

Lendeborg went for 15 points and 7 rebounds in Michigan’s 102-72 rout of Auburn Tuesday night.

Lendeborg initially signed with St. John’s and then-coach Mike Anderson in 2022, but when Rick Pitino took over he cut Lendeborg loose.

In October, Lendeborg scored a game-high 25 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in a 96-94 victory over St. John’s at Madison Square Garden.

Post game, Lendeborg made it clear that this was a game that he ‘absolutely’ played with a chip on his shoulder against St. John’s.

“From the day that I got that feeling Pitino didn’t want me, after he got signed, instant chip on my shoulder,” he said, “I wanted it so badly to come in here and win the game, and we did that, so I’m super happy about that.”

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