The Yaxel Lendeborg/Gavin McKenna Waiting Game for Michigan hoops and hockey

The future of Michigan basketball and hockey hinges on two elite prospects: Yaxel Lendeborg and Gavin McKenna. With loaded rosters and high expectations, these final decisions could elevate both programs from contenders to national champions:

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The Yaxel Lendeborg/Gavin McKenna Waiting Game

The Michigan basketball and hockey teams are well positioned for success next season. Both programs have experienced their fair share of turnover, but both have emerged optimistic as the transfer portal and graduation dust settles. However, both are also at the mercy of two massive personnel, destiny-defining decisions still lingering over their respective programs. Let’s start on the hardwood.

Dusty May’s squad returns several key pieces from a team that not only defied all expectations and reached the Sweet 16. But a team that improved by 19 wins (a D-1 record) in May’s first season leading the program. Yes, Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf are off to the NBA and Tre Donaldson has sought warmer weather in Florida, but May returns a winning foundation to build upon his cinderella season for the sequel.

Roddy Gayle, Nimari Burnett, Will Tschetter, and L.J. Cason have all shown flashes in big moments and provide continuity within May’s system. The latter being increasingly rare in the modern college basketball landscape.

The incoming freshmen joining this quartet are Australian Oscar Goodman, who has already been on campus for a semester and has acclimated to the grind of the college game. Winters Grady, a 6’5 efficient wing with an edge to his game. Patrick Liburd, a late-committing player who tremendous upside who was unreasonably lost in the recruiting shuffle due to his highly touted teammates. And five-star Trey McKenney, a walking bucket who plays like there is not a man alive who can stop him from scoring.

Via the transfer portal, the Wolverines added former UNC pit bull guard Elliot Cadeau, UCLA’s Aday Mara, who at 7-foot-3 is closer to heaven than most of us ever will be, and Illinois’s Morez Johnson Jr., a rim-running athlete who deserves a Windex NIL deal with the way he cleans the glass.

With the four key returners, four freshmen, and three transfers, this is a really good team. A team that could compete for a Big Ten title, embark on another run in Indianapolis, and make a return trip to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. An appropriate follow-up to the magic of last year.

However, one more player could take this team further. One player could raise the ceiling of this team to rival any team in the country. One player could take this team to its first national championship since 1989… Yaxel Lendeborg.

Yaxel Lendeborg is an alien who descended upon Earth to play basketball. At 6’9, Lendeborg left the mothership to dominate with a well-rounded, mature game that lacks true flaws at this level. Last season, Lendeborg led UAB in scoring with 17.7 points, while pulling down 11.4 boards and dishing out 5.2 assists per game. Defensively, Lendeborg is a two-time AAC Defensive Player of the Year with an otherworldly feel for creating havoc with blocks and steals.

The Wolverines became an option to land Lendeborg in April, when he announced that he was going to either transfer to Michigan or go to the NBA. The NBA is understandably alluring to this extra-terrestrial who was at Arizona Wesleyan three years ago, and is currently projected as the No. 26 pick to the Brooklyn Nets (per ESPN). But Michigan is also alluring for a player who could develop into a lottery pick with one more year of development, while simultaneously competing for college’s highest prize.

Lendeborg has until Wednesday to make his decision, and all we can do is wait. Joining us in the queue is hockey head man Brandon Naurato as he waits for a player whose talent has never been matched at the college level.

Following a disappointing season and a disheartening mass exodus of the roster, Naurato has slowly started to piece together a team that could return to the NCAA Tournament. Admittedly, I was concerned at first with Naurato’s approach, but his meticulous roster-building process is approaching perfection the longer it lasts.

Returning, the Wolverines welcome back forwards T.J. Hughes, Michael Hage, Garrett Schifsky, Josh Eernissee, Nick Moldenhauer, Will Horcoff, and Kienan Draper. On the blue line, Tyler Duke, Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen, Hunter Hady, and Luca Fantilli are all set to return. We’ll get to the net momentarily.

Although not official, Michigan is expected to add freshmen forwards Cole McKinney, Aidan Park, and Gennadi Chaly, D-men Asher Barnett and Drew Shock IV, and goaltender Stephen Peck.

McKinney is the goal-scoring star of the group and class headliner, while Barnett and Shock are the backbones of the class. Barnett is a defensive first blue-liner and was named team captain of the U-18 World Junior team. Shock is more offensively inclined, and earned the “A” on his sweater for World Juniors . Not to be outdone, Park is one of the most improved prospects in the country, Chali is a physical player every championship team needs, and Peck finished the season as one of the five best goalies in the USHL.

In the transfer portal, Michigan added former NoDak forward Jayden Perron, OHL forward Malcom Spence, and Cornel defenseman Ben Robertson.

Perron only scored 37 points in 69 games with North Dakota, but he will be looking to return to his USHL level (117 points in 121 games) where he played alongside Michigan’s Hage, Moldenhauer, and Hady. Spence is a 6’2, hard-skill left winger who scored 190 points in 210 games in the OHL, and Robertson was a top-pairing D-man for one of the best defenses in college hockey.

Similar to the basketball team, these moves alone – and with some presumptive goalie additions – should be enough to take this team back to the NCAA Tournament, and with some luck, back to the Frozen Four . However, Naurato isn’t banking on luck anymore.

Statistically, Michigan was one of the most unlucky teams in the country last year and in terms of roster building, luck has never been on Naurato’s side. No, this time, he is banking on talent.

There are reportedly a few irons still in the transfer fire for the Wolverines, but one brings more heat than the rest combined. One would be the hottest caliber player to ever play for the University of Michigan or in the NCAA for that matter… Gavin McKenna.

In terms of 21st century prospects, Gavin McKenna is on the same tier, the highest tier, as Connor Bedard, Connor McDavid, and Sidney Crosby. If Yaxel Lendeborg is an alien, Gavin McKenna is the Greek hero Achilles with celestial-created protective skates and quicker hands.

McKenna finished the WHL regular season with 129 points in 59 games, a point-per-game pace that only trails Mario Lemieux (MARIO LEMIEUX!) in the last 40 years. In the playoffs, McKenna scored 38 points in 16 games and led the Medicine Hat Tigers to their first league title since 2007. Now, the Tigers have advanced to compete for the Memorial Cup which should wrap up in the first week of June.

Unlike Lendeborg, McKenna’s decision isn’t between the the professional level and Michigan. McKenna only turned 17 in December so he is not eligible for the NHL until 2026 where he is unanimously projected to be the top pick. McKenna has to decide between staying in Canada or moving to the NCAA ranks. If McKenna chooses Michigan, the Wolverines could also add projected top-five 2025 NHL Draft prospect Porter Martone and a high-caliber goalie. But everything begins and ends with McKenna.

The fate of two Michigan programs is down to a pair of decisions. Will the Wolverines be led by mere mortals into the postseason again? Or, will the stars align for each team’s first national championship this century?