And then … the rocket ship keeps zoomin’, right. People start saying I’m the top player in the portal. Schools are calling me constantly. Texts like crazy. People sending letters in the mail. Like … the actual mail. With stamps! Schools offering ridiculous amounts of money.
But I’ll tell you the truth about all of that. Every coach I talked to, I’d listen close to see what they were emphasizing most. And I know this is gonna maybe sound crazy, or you maybe might not believe me … but if a coach was focused most on the dollar amount they were offering, I’d cross that school off my list. Because what I cared most about was how a program would make me a better player, and help me to grow into a better NBA prospect. Like, for me … all the money that places were offering was more than I’d ever imagined seeing in my entire life. It was all life-changing money to me. So then it became: Where will I be the happiest? Which school will allow me to grow as a player and person?
And when I asked myself those questions, it wasn’t a difficult call at all.
It was Michigan for me pretty much right from the start.
I was already a big fan of Coach Dusty after playing against his FAU teams. It was clear he knew how to draw up plays and all that, but what I noticed the most was how he interacted with his players. You could tell he genuinely cared about those guys and wanted to see them shine.
And then, I don’t know if it was something about growing up in northern Ohio, not too far from Michigan, or what, but there’s always been something about that Block M for me. That legacy. And every conversation I had with Coach May, it all just kept sounding better and better. Plus, Mom was excited about Michigan. Always talking about it and smiling at me. I ended up committing without even taking a visit.
-Yaxel Lendeborg on why he choose Michigan over other schools
No Peat, No Aristode. So Zona has to play with essentially a six man rotation. They’re playing in Houston where the Cougars are like 52-2 in their last 54 games. If they were to somehow pull this off it’s easily the win of the year when considering all factors.
Yaxel finally looking like he wants to take over. Kid is special, but sometimes is too much of a team player. It’s that a thing? Idk, but I want him to drop 40 tonight
