Michigan basketball made a big coup via the transfer portal, not only getting former UAB standout Yaxel Lendeborg to commit to the Wolverines, but also getting him to withdraw from the NBA draft after it appeared he’d likely be league-bound.

But now it’s time for Dusty May and the enigmatic forward to get to work.

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Lendeborg would have likely been a first-round NBA draft pick had he stayed in the process, but with something of a promise of further developing and being selected higher with a guaranteed contract. But that notion isn’t the only thing that attracted Lendeborg to Ann Arbor.

Initial impressions on Dusty May and Michigan

Lendeborg’s first impression of the Michigan basketball head coach and the program are two separate things. While May made the early push for the former UAB star to get him to Ann Arbor, Lendeborg’s first impressions actually came before they met in the process of May working to get him to transfer.

“The initial conversation was great. I already liked Dusty May as a coach,” Lendeborg told Brian Boesch on the Defend the Block Podcast. “My first year watching basketball, me and my friends (in) JUCO, we were watching March Madness, we’re watching FAU and then another team watching this so I just started to like how he coached his team, how he looked.

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“Obviously, when he was coaching, because a lot of coaches are always just fired up, angry. He just seems so cool, calm, and collected. That’s how I try to be as a player as well. So it’s kind of nice to have that. It’s refreshing. But when he came out to visit me, it was amazing. It was big time. It was huge for me and just like my emotions, because I always wanted a coach to be like a father figure for me, someone I can look up to. I feel like Dusty May is going to be a real big part of that. He can for sure be a father figure for me and help me grow as a person rather than just a basketball player.”

As far as Michigan itself, the big move started when Lendeborg visited Ann Arbor in April and ended with the combine.

Lendeborg was blown away by everything that the Wolverines have to offer once he got to see Ann Arbor in person. Knowing the level of development that the coaching staff could bring, seeing the facilities and the city, and meeting with the staff helped ease Lendeborg’s mind when it came to the idea of staying in college for one more year. But when he got to Chicago for the NBA combine, he learned that it might be his best route to see his commitment through.

“Well, there was two things: No. 1 was when I came out here on my visit, it pretty much turned everything around for me,” Lendeborg said. “Because the NBA, I was like, oh my gosh, I can make it. But then when I came out here, it was like, he’s promising me like next year, I can be better than what I was last year, higher ranking draft-wise than I can be if I come here and put the work in.

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“And then, two, was this: I spoke to NBA teams, the majority of them were saying that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to come back here, develop a little bit more, play at a higher level, just to see what I’m capable of doing. And I’ve always asked that question to make sure because my mind was always like, I want to come to Michigan, but the NBA is the NBA. You have to go when you have the chance. So just hearing that type of feedback from NBA teams is pretty much what helped me more lean towards Michigan.”

More on his game and his expectations with Michigan

Lendeborg is a walking double-double, averaging 17.7 points per game, 11.4 rebounds, while also managing an average of 4.2 assists per game — all at the forward position.

He told Boesch that the best part of his game is the facilitation. But now that he’s joining the maize and blue, he hopes that his shooting improves, while he reshapes his body to become more NBA-ready.

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“Most confidence I have in my game, I would say my passing ability and my rebounding — for like a natural gift with passing, my favorite thing to do as well,” Lendeborg said. “Things that will get better with the help of Michigan, of course, is my shooting, just shooting off the dribble or shooting a little quicker, and just being on target — and my defense as well. Just helping my body out, my strength, my speed.

“I have a lot of faith that they’ll get me right, body-wise. I didn’t really put up the most athletic numbers at the combine, but I do feel like that’s going to change.”

Lendeborg is one of four transfer portal additions that Michigan basketball made this offseason. He joins North Carolina guard Elliot Cadeau, Illinois forward Morez Johnson Jr., and UCLA center Aday Mara becoming new Wolverines this year.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Yaxel Lendeborg talks joining Michigan, Dusty May’s impact