Latest Michigan Basketball Recruit Sends Enthusiastic Message
The Michigan Wolverines' basketball team is hoping for improved results next season under coach Dusty May with a revamped roster.
Michigan retooled on the fly last season with May coming aboard from the Florida Atlantic Owls and will now look to put the finishing touches on a roster in need of improved firepower and depth heading into next season.
Advertisement
On Friday, the latest Michigan Wolverines commit took to X to share his thoughts on the program and his commitment to coach May's hoops squad.
The message was viewed over 8,000 times as fans began to acquaint themselves with the newest kid on the block in Ann Arbor.
Dusty May at Michigan's Sweet 16 game vs. the Auburn Tigers. © Brett Davis-Imagn Images
"1000% All in! Go Blue!" three-star small forward Patrick Liburd of Sagemont Prep High School in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida wrote on X Friday after his decision.
He also included Bible verse Joshua 1:9, which states, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go," he added with the hashtag #AGTG, which stands for 'All Glory to God.'
"All Right! Welcome! GoBlue," one fan wrote.
Advertisement
"Yes sir congratulations," another said.
"Welcome home," another said with a block 'M' in the middle of the second word.
Liburd had offers from Coastal Carolina, Fairfield, Cornell, Dartmouth and other schools before choosing to accept one from the Wolverines.
He was originally committed to the Chanticleers and will now join five-star Trey McKenney, four-star Winters Grady and four-star Oscar Goodman in May's Class of 2025 with the Wolverines.
Related: Aidan Hutchinson's 3-Word Promise Revealed by Lions Defensive Coordinator Kelvin Sheppard
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
17 minutes ago
- USA Today
Details for Florida basketball's 2025 matchup against UConn Huskies revealed
Details for Florida basketball's 2025 matchup against UConn Huskies revealed Florida basketball's matchup against the UConn Huskies at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Tuesday, Dec. 9, was officially announced by ESPN on Wednesday, setting up a rematch of the 2025 NCAA Tournament Second Round. The Gators narrowly won that game, 77-75, en route to their third-ever national championship. This fall, the two teams will once again battle on a neutral court in the second half of the Jimmy V Classic, which is named for NC State head coach Jimmy Valvano, who won a national title at age 37. Florida skipper Todd Golden is just two years older, and his recent success made him the youngest head coach to win a ring since Jimmy V. The game is scheduled as the second half of a double-header that opens with the BYU Cougars facing off with the Clemson Tigers, which tips off at 6:30 p.m. ET. Florida-UConn follows with a 9 p.m. ET start time. The Huskies hold the all-time edge over the Gators with a 5-2 record dating back to their first meeting in the Sweet 16 of the 1994 NCAA Tournament. Third-seeded Florida prevailed in overtime, 69-60, over second-seeded UConn to advance to the Elite Eight. Connecticut won the next five meetings spanning from 2013 to 2022, with a pair of victories coming inside the O'Connell Center and the other two on their home court; the third came in the 2014 NCAA Tournament Semifinals — a 63-53 triumph. Then, of course, Florida bookended the series win a win in the Big Dance this spring. Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Yaxel Lendeborg discusses Michigan basketball roster, sets Final Four goal for 2025
Yaxel Lendeborg discusses Michigan basketball roster, sets Final Four goal for 2025 Yaxel Lendeborg isn't wasting any time getting acclimated to Michigan basketball. The No. 1 player in the transfer portal had committed to the Wolverines earlier in the process, despite still appearing to be NBA-bound as he departed UAB. Yet, he ended up withdrawing and will play in Ann Arbor for one season after all. As it turns out, he already has a pretty good idea of what the roster looks like, what it can do, and how it can help him improve as a player. "I feel like I have a pretty good knowledge of it right now," Lendeborg told Brian Boesch on the Defend the Block Podcast. "I know our bigs are really athletic, really long shot blockers. A lot of us are pretty good rebounders, so it's going to be a little bit of a battle on the boards. "We have Elliot Cadeau, who's -- I think they said, the best passer, the best passer in college basketball, which is amazing as well. Something that I could probably try to take from him, just see what he sees on the floor, something to learn about. And, we have a lot of good shooters like Nimari Burnett. I think they said he shot 45 percent, which is ridiculous. "We just got Trey (McKenney), (Mr.) Basketball -- you know, that's great. I haven't looked into many of the other guys as much, but I know that we have a good roster formulated, and we have a lot of length, which is something great as well." Coming from UAB, Lendeborg isn't used to his team having high and lofty expectations. But the Wolverines are coming off a Big Ten Tournament championship and a Sweet 16 run. Now, those expectations are risin,g and the program is aiming higher. With Lendeborg on the roster, that helps elevate the program, as well. And he's not shying away from heightened prospects when it comes to what the maize and blue can do in 2025-26. "Oh, yeah. I'm super excited," Lendeborg said. "You know, "I feel like it's giving me more of a chip on my shoulder to try to be the best that I can be, just not let the fans down, not let the people that support us down, you know. So I am super excited. I'm happy to get up to that stage. I made a promise as well that I want to at least take us to the Final Four. So, I'm going to do whatever I can to get us there." Lendeborg joins transfers Cadeau, Morez Johnson Jr., and Aday Mara, as well as freshmen McKenney, Winters Grady, and Patrick Liburd as new faces who will reshape the Michigan basketball roster in 2025-26.
USA Today
3 hours ago
- USA Today
Yaxel Lendeborg discusses choosing Dusty May, Michigan over NBA draft
Yaxel Lendeborg discusses choosing Dusty May, Michigan over NBA draft 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. 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. "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. "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. "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.
