INDIANAPOLIS — How someone makes the people in their orbit feel speaks volumes, and right now, Roddy Gayle Jr. is feeling a little twinge of sadness on the happiest day of his life because of Yaxel Lendeborg. Michigan is on top of the college basketball world after knocking off UConn 69-63 to win the national championship, but Gayle knows that his best days with Lendeborg are likely in the past.
The days of hooping with his brother are all but over.
“He’s probably the closest person I think I’ve ever had,” Gayle said. “The closest thing I ever had to a brother, besides, obviously, my own family. Just his ability to be there for me, no matter what. You really don’t get a chance to really get close to people like that. And selfishly, I wish that I had one more year with him.”
Michigan used unselfishness and brawn to become the best team in the country. Lendeborg is at the epicenter of both of those traits. The All-American forward is blessed by the basketball gods with all the physical gifts. The 6-foot-9 frame. The freaky athleticism. The freaky 7-4 wingspan. The 99th percentile strength. Gayle didn’t believe Lendeborg would even make it to Michigan when he took his visit last spring because the NBA would come calling.
He made it to Ann Arbor, all right, and he made it count on the biggest stage by gutting his way through 36 minutes despite not being fully himself after suffering a knee injury in Saturday’s romp over Arizona.
“He is a warrior,” Michigan guard Charlie May said. “He fought for us. He’s supposed to be a lottery pick, so if you’re stepping out with an injury anytime, like he risked a lot for us to get here. The whole university owes that guy a lot because he is a dog. I’m just so grateful for him, man.”
Lendeborg’s last game was eerily fitting because there was a struggle, a setback and a triumph. Lendeborg was tentative offensively, not taking a single shot for the first nine-plus minutes of regulation. He felt slow when Michigan needed him to play fast. One of the most violent transition scorers in the country looked … human? When he didn’t dive on the floor for a loose ball, Michigan coach Dusty May let him hear about it on his way into and out of the huddle, colorful language a-flowing.
And then, it flipped.
“I knew there was no way I was going to miss this game, no matter what was going on,” Lendeborg said. “I was very tentative this game. I felt like I was pretty much holding our team down. I felt like we could have been up by way more early in the game, later on in the game. I kept having opportunities to make plays, and I couldn’t make the play. But these guys stuck with me no matter what. They all believed in me. I was trying to push through my mental and physical battle out there, dealing with myself, but these guys really helped me out and helped me push through.”
Lendeborg muttered “Thank God” after his old-fashioned 3-point play fell through the twine early in the second half. He delivered six straight points in winning time, and the party was on when the buzzer sounded. Lendeborg sprinted here, there and everywhere. He climbed the ladder to flash a sign with the phrase: “Shock the world BOYS, Go Blue!” as an ode to the Fab Five.
He sprinted into the corner to find his gleeful family. He shared a long, tearful hug with his mother. He hurried to find a swath of fans, including his three sisters and dozens more who begged for selfies, FaceTimes and autographs.
He obliged, only after he took a belt and illustrated BTA for all to see with a little help from freshman sensation Trey McKenney.
This is what the new-age Cinderella looks like. Lendeborg’s first love was baseball and a whole lot of video games. He didn’t make his freshman team at Pennsauken High School. He barely got on at Arizona Western Junior College. Before he became a game-changing wing at Michigan, he was operating as a small-ball 5-man at UAB.
“This was the best year of my life,” Lendeborg said.
Lendeborg’s One Shining Moment came years in the making, and this adventure is accentuated by how he’s made his cohorts feel along the ride.
“I’m really appreciative when a guy of that stature would be so selfless,” Gayle said. “He didn’t have to cling to me and be my friend. We all knew where he was headed long before the season even started. We knew he was going to be in the same position. So I feel like his selflessness and his ability to bring the best out of me, no matter what. I feel like he pushed me to be better in every aspect of life. I’m super indebted.”