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

To quote Rod Tidwell, “Show me the money.”

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. That money, in turn, can go to adding more transfers and elite recruits for the next cycle.

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

He has 47 double-doubles since the beginning of the 2023-24 season, the most in D-I, per ESPN. No other player has 40 double-doubles.

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 that was a game that he “absolutely” played with a chip on his shoulder.

“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.”

Read the original article on NJ.com. Add NJ.com as a Preferred Source by clicking here.