Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan ‘Mercenaries’ win national title
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Luis Miguel,
- April 7, 2026
Yaxel Lendeborg makes mom, Dominican Republic proud
INDIANAPOLIS – Yaxel Lendeborg often states that his biggest goal in life is to make his mom proud. Michigan’s All-American credits his mother Yissel Raposo for saving his life.
When Lendeborg was at the lowest points in life, it seemed only his mother believed in him, often more than he believed in himself.
So after the greatest accomplishment of his life, the Dominican American scanned for his mother on the court at Lucas Oil Stadium on Monday night. He stood on his toes and bounced anxiously as she approached him.
Then they hugged and cried while celebrating Michigan’s second NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship and first since 1989.
‘Orgullo’ Dominicano
“I feel very happy for Yaxel because he worked a lot to win this,” Raposo said after Michigan beat UConn 69-63. “He came from the bottom, started from zero. He knocked on doors that didn’t open, others did.
“Now he’s an NCAA champion. So he brings pride for me and all of the Dominican Republic.”
Lendeborg’s collegiate basketball career started at Arizona Western, a junior college. Raposo did all the work behind the scenes to make this happen.
The native of the Dominican Republic called coaches and filled out applications for her son to get his college career started.
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Raposo saw the potential in her 6-foot-9 son and did not want to let it go to waste. In his senior year of high school, Lendeborg was getting in trouble for being the class clown. He was barely getting by academically.
The move to Arizona was a new beginning and set the stage for a remarkable journey. After JUCO, Lendeborg had an accomplished career at UAB before joining the Wolverines for his final year of eligibility.
Despite the long road traveled by Lendeborg so far, his story is just beginning.
“Man, once we transferred in, I know especially for me, the whole University of Michigan welcomed me with open arms,” Lendeborg said. “I (saw) many, many Twitter arguments of these guys going back and forth with everybody saying we deserved a spot here, they’re going to cherish every moment of us being here.”
Playing through pain
Playing essentially on one leg while hampered with left knee and ankle injuries that he suffered Saturday in the national semifinal against Arizona, Lendeborg scored 13 points at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Junior guard Elliot Cadeau, who was named the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player, scored a game-high 19 points for Michigan.
“Man, it means the world to me,” Cadeau said. “I’m just so proud of myself, where I came from. Last year I was really down on myself.
“A lot of people doubted me, and I’m just so proud of myself for me to be able to say I was the Most Outstanding Player and win a National Championship at the same time.”
Sophomore Morez Johnson Jr. added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolverines. Senior forward Alex Karaban led UConn with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Malachi Smith, a redshirt senior guard with a Puerto Rican father, had six points, three rebounds and three assists off the bench for UConn.
“We came up short,” Karaban said. “Missed some shots we normally make, but we gave it our all. I’m proud of these guys to my left. I’m proud of the guys in the locker room.”
Senior center Tarris Reed Jr. added 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds for the Huskies.
UConn, which won back-to-back NCAA titles in 2023 and 2024, was trying to win its third national title in four years.
“Obviously for us it’s tough,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “Again, we did not come here for (runner-up) watches. We came here for rings. … I’m not real emotional. Players are crying a lot more than I am. It’s hard to be upset with your team. We lost the game because we missed. … We didn’t make enough shots.”
Fab Transfer Five
In the era of the transfer portal, Michigan became the first NCAA Tournament champion to start five transfers.
Critics on social media derided the Wolverines as “merceneries” most of the season.
“The keyboard warriors aren’t going to like that,” said Lendeborg, the Big Ten Player of the Year. “Those Twitter warriors, all them boys, I know they’re going to hate that. But, hey, we did all we could.
“The mercenaries showed up. … The best college team ever and we’re the national champions, man. It doesn’t matter what anybody says. They can’t take that away from us.”
Luis Miguel
Our Esquina contributor Luis Miguel is a Boston sports fan and former college basketball player who has built his career at the intersection of sports and business. He holds an MBA from UC Berkeley Haas and currently resides in Miami.
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