Latest news with #AdayMara
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Top Ranked Prospect Updates Michigan Basketball Interest at NBA Combine
The Michigan Wolverines basketball team secured a tentative pledge from former Alabama-Birmingham Blazers forward Yaxel Lendeborg recently that has Dusty May and his coaching staff waiting by the phone for updates. Lendeborg, the United States' top ranked transfer portal prospect, has the talent to be taken in June 25's NBA draft, but he also has a decision to make between staying and college and heading to the league. Advertisement Lendeborg has been participating in the NBA's pre-draft combine, which runs through May 18. The former UAB Blazers star appears to have improved his draft stock in the early going, although he did share information on potentially choosing the Wolverines that turned heads on Tuesday. Yaxel Lendeborg (left) goes up for a block against Memphis in March 2025. © Chris Jones-Imagn Images Lendeborg ranked among the top 11 shooters at the combine in the early going. He added that his decision is "50-50, maybe 60-40" in favor of playing with the Wolverines next season vs. heading to the NBA. Lendeborg has a chance to round out Michigan's prospective front line this season, which is also expected to include UCLA transfer Aday Mara and Illinois transfer Morez Johnson. Lendeborg averaged 17.7 points per game last season with the Blazers for coach Andy Kennedy's team in the American Athletic Conference. Advertisement He also snagged 11.4 rebounds per game and dished out over four assists per game while shooting over 52 percent from the field. Lendeborg would add much needed athleticism and versatility to a Michigan front court that will have to replace projected top 20 draft pick Danny Wolf, who transferred to Michigan from the Yale Bulldogs last season. Related: Star Michigan Defender Posts Aidan Hutchinson Style Video Marking Return From ACL Injury
USA Today
12-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Updated Big Ten basketball transfer portal class rankings
Updated Big Ten basketball transfer portal class rankings The Big Ten basketball landscape could be dominated by transfers in the 2025-26 season. Several of the conference's projected top contenders, including Michigan, UCLA and Wisconsin, exit the transfer cycle with new additions set for major lineup roles. The Wolverines' offseason was headlined by the impact additions of UCLA center Aday Mara, Illinois forward Morez Johnson Jr., North Carolina guard Elliot Cadeau and UAB forward Yaxel Lendeborg (pending an NBA draft decision). Lendeborg has the chance for the greatest impact, as he joins the Wolverines as the No. 1 overall transfer prospect. UCLA, next, added five-star transfer Donovan Dent from New Mexico, former five-star high school recruit Xavier Booker from Michigan State and Jamar Brown from Kansas City. That trio complements a lineup that already returned major contributors from a team that went 23-11 last season. Wisconsin, finally, may have delivered the most underrated transfer cycle of any Big Ten contender. The program added San Diego State guard Nick Boyd, Virginia wing Andrew Rohde, Portland forward Austin Rapp and Tulsa guard Braeden Carrington. The first three are all write-ins to a starting lineup that could be the conference's best if John Blackwell withdraws from the NBA draft. Wisconsin, Michigan and UCLA are all projected top-five teams entering the 2025-26 Big Ten season. They trail Purdue, which is the one major conference contender that did not bring in a crowded transfer class. For more on the early outlook for next season, here are our latest post-transfer cycle power rankings. With the transfer cycle now mostly complete, here is an updated look at 247Sports' team rankings for the Big Ten Conference. Updated Big Ten basketball 2025 transfer portal class rankings Of course, these rankings should be taken with a grain of salt. Wisconsin, for example, landed three highly touted transfers who all project as major contributors. That group may have a similar impact as Indiana's group of 10 transfers, although the volume of transfers in the Hoosiers' class leads to a much higher ranking. Furthermore, transfer rankings are far less accurate than those from the high school recruiting cycle. John Tonje headlines that reality, as he delivered an All-American season after being ranked as the No. 296 overall transfer from last offseason. That is a long way to explain that these rankings don't mean everything. They are just an interesting comparison point to return to once these groups take the court in the fall. Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Dusty May Sings Praises of Talented Michigan Wolverines Transfer
The Michigan Wolverines were avalanched on the defensive glass in their toughest losses of their 2024-2025 campaign under coach Dusty May, as Michigan State and Auburn hammered the Wolverines on the board in tough late season losses. This offseason brought with it plenty of changes for the Wolverines' roster as center Vladislav Goldin and power forward Dusty May both left Ann Arbor with the NBA their next likely destinations. Advertisement May responded by hitting the transfer portal, securing commitments from a trio of big men who could shore up with the Wolverines' biggest weakness next season. Among them is a former Illinois Fighting Illini power forward who has drawn praise from May this offseason, and may be in line to start for Michigan this fall. Morez Johnson shoots a free throw against the Kentucky Wildcats in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. © Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images "We were obviously enamored with him because we struggled defensive rebounding," May said to The Wolverine. "He's a hard worker, and he's going to continue to add and be more involved in the game offensively." Johnson, who went to high school in Thorntown Township, Illinois near Chicago, will head to Ann Arbor after logging just under 18 minutes per game with the Illini last season. Advertisement Johnson made his minutes count, averaging 7.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game while shooting over 64 percent from the field. He is expected to team with former UCLA center Aday Mara, a shot blocking machine for the Bruins in limited minutes last season, and possibly Yaxel Lendeborg, the nation's top ranked transfer who committed to Michigan but may head for the NBA draft after receiving an invite to the league's pre-draft camp. Related: Prized Former Michigan Recruit Makes In-State Transfer Portal Decision
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'It was a hard decision': Aday Mara talks about why he departed UCLA for Michigan
Aday Mara elevates over a Tennessee opponent for a dunk attempt during an NCAA tournament game. (Andy Lyons / Getty Images) Nearly every time Aday Mara touched the ball over the season's final months, a murmur of anticipation filled Pauley Pavilion. Would the 7-foot-3 center show off his extraordinary passing skills, flinging the ball to a teammate for a backdoor layup? Would he pivot around his defender for a dunk? Would he use his mythical size to get off an unblockable sky hook? Advertisement Almost everything the UCLA sophomore did after becoming a regular part of the rotation in late January wowed fans who equally delighted him with their deafening cheers. That support was among the reasons why Mara did not want to go quietly on his way to Michigan. For one of his final acts before leaving campus, Mara reached out to The Times to discuss the rationale behind his transfer and set the record straight about a report stating that he had made outrageous demands as a requirement for him to remain a Bruin. The smile that never seems to leave Mara's face vanished when it came to his departure from a place that he loved. 'It was a hard decision to leave UCLA,' Mara said Friday night via FaceTime, 'because you saw every game — I was enjoying it, I was super happy because I saw all the crowd cheering for me, helping me a lot. Los Angeles is like a really, really good place, Westwood, so I'm going to miss that and I wanted to say that because it was a hard decision because it's just after two years it feels like I spent a lot more time than two years, you know?' UCLA's Aday Mara, left, and Lazar Stefanovic high-five each other above teammate Dylan Andrews. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) So why is he leaving? Advertisement Mara said he was not the basketball player he expected to be almost two years ago when he first set foot on campus, even if his impact over the last few months far exceeded his season averages of 6.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 13.1 minutes per game. He started only one game — as an injury replacement for Tyler Bilodeau. Coach Mick Cronin explained during the season that Mara's usage was limited by matchups, conditioning and a few illnesses. Mara acknowledged there were times he asked to come out of games because he expended full energy in short spurts. 'I knew that I wasn't going to play a lot,' Mara said, 'so I was going like 100% — that's why I was getting tired because I knew that it was going to be six minutes [of playing time] and if I play well it was going to be 15, so I was going like 100% and sometimes, yeah, I said like, 'I'm tired, I need some rest,' you know? But I think it's a common thing if you try hard and you play hard.' After a breakthrough 22-point performance against Wisconsin in late January, Mara became a bigger part of the rotation, his averages increasing to 8.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in 17.1 minutes over the final 16 games. Still, it wasn't enough to convince Mara that he should return for a third season in Westwood. Advertisement 'I had expectations when I came here that I didn't achieve,' said Mara, whose coming to UCLA necessitated a messy split from his Spanish professional team. 'Also, I think I felt like I was playing good, practicing good, practicing hard, you know, putting in extra work and until Wisconsin I never had the opportunity to show that I was able to play, you know? And once [Cronin] gave me the opportunity, I saw — not a lot, but I saw what I could do, so those are the two reasons.' Read more: UCLA restocks roster with commitments from two centers and a wing After the Bruins lost to Tennessee in the second round of the NCAA tournament, Mara returned to Spain to discuss his future with his parents. Though they offered support and guidance, Mara said, the decision to leave was his alone. 'I feel that I had to change,' Mara said, 'but I didn't want to.' Advertisement Mara said he informed Cronin of his intentions after returning to campus at the end of last month, knowing that the coaching staff needed to quickly pivot to a replacement. Then he entered the transfer portal and commenced discussions with Michigan. One thing Mara said he did not do was demand more money or lay out a series of demands that would need to be met for him to remain at UCLA. Among the purported demands detailed by Bruin Report Online were Mara remaining in Spain for the summer and returning to his home country whenever he desired, not to mention the ability to dictate his own practice schedule and pull himself out of games whenever he wished. 'I feel like that's crazy,' Mara said of the alleged demands. 'For a player who is 20 years old asking a coach for not practicing or playing whenever he wants, I feel like that's a crazy thing. If someone does that, it's because, I don't know, but I would never say that. It's not true. … If someone who is 19, 20 or 21 says that, it's because he doesn't like basketball and I love basketball, so that's crazy for me.' Mara said he did ask Cronin if he could continue working out with Dave Andrews, the team's director of athletic performance who had helped him round into shape from an off-season foot injury. Advertisement 'Dave did an unbelievable job with me,' Mara said. 'The time that he spent, the work that we did, that really helped me this year, so I knew that — because I thought that I was going to stay here for two months until I finished school, so that's what I asked him because I knew two months with him would make a huge difference for me, so that's the only thing that I asked him, to work with Dave. I said if I can, let me know. [Cronin] told me that [Andrews] was working with the guys that were staying here, so I was good.' Mara soon withdrew from classes, giving him only 15 days before his student visa expired. He's scheduled to fly to Spain on Sunday and spend about a month in his home country before reporting to Michigan for summer workouts. Why did Mara decide to become a Michigan man? He said he was impressed by the way coach Dusty May utilized 7-footers Vladislav Goldin and Danny Wolf, who bullied the Bruins during the Wolverines' 94-75 rout in January at Pauley Pavilion. Mara said he was also lured by Michigan's fast pace under May, who likes to use his big men in transition. With Goldin and Wolf departing, Mara will be joined in the frontcourt next season by Illinois transfer Morez Johnson Jr. 'I'm super excited to go to Michigan,' Mara said, 'to try to show everyone that I can play at a good level, that I can keep getting better and I know it's a Big Ten team, so excited to play against UCLA.' Advertisement Mara was one of six UCLA players to enter the transfer portal after the season, joining center William Kyle III, forward Devin Williams and guards Dylan Andrews, Sebastian Mack and Dominick Harris. The Bruins have added four transfers in point guard Donovan Dent, wing Jamar Brown and centers Xavier Booker and Steven Jamerson II. 'The transfer portal is part of our world now,' said Cronin, whose roster will also benefit from the return of guard Eric Freeny and forward Brandon Williams from a redshirt season. 'We accept it and understand it. We wish all the guys well and continued growth as young men.' If all goes well, Mara could represent Spain as part of a triumphant return to Los Angeles for the 2028 Summer Olympics. Next season, he'll see his old teammates again, presumably in Ann Arbor. 'I'm really going to miss them,' Mara said, his smile returning. 'They are good people, good players. I guess we're going to see each other again in Michigan.' Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
20-04-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
‘It was a hard decision': Aday Mara talks about why he departed UCLA for Michigan
Nearly every time Aday Mara touched the ball over the season's final months, a murmur of anticipation filled Pauley Pavilion. Would the 7-foot-3 center show off his extraordinary passing skills, flinging the ball to a teammate for a backdoor layup? Would he pivot around his defender for a dunk? Would he use his mythical size to get off an unblockable sky hook? Almost everything the UCLA sophomore did after becoming a regular part of the rotation in late January wowed fans who equally delighted him with their deafening cheers. That support was among the reasons why Mara did not want to go quietly on his way to Michigan. For one of his final acts before leaving campus, Mara reached out to The Times to discuss the rationale behind his transfer and set the record straight about a report stating that he had made outrageous demands as a requirement for him to remain a Bruin. The smile that never seems to leave Mara's face vanished when it came to his departure from a place that he loved. 'It was a hard decision to leave UCLA,' Mara said Friday night via FaceTime, 'because you saw every game — I was enjoying it, I was super happy because I saw all the crowd cheering for me, helping me a lot. Los Angeles is like a really, really good place, Westwood, so I'm going to miss that and I wanted to say that because it was a hard decision because it's just after two years it feels like I spent a lot more time than two years, you know?' So why is he leaving? Mara said he was not the basketball player he expected to be almost two years ago when he first set foot on campus, even if his impact over the last few months far exceeded his season averages of 6.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 13.1 minutes per game. He started only one game — as an injury replacement for Tyler Bilodeau. Coach Mick Cronin explained during the season that Mara's usage was limited by matchups, conditioning and a few illnesses. Mara acknowledged there were times he asked to come out of games because he expended full energy in short spurts. 'I knew that I wasn't going to play a lot,' Mara said, 'so I was going like 100% — that's why I was getting tired because I knew that it was going to be six minutes [of playing time] and if I play well it was going to be 15, so I was going like 100% and sometimes, yeah, I said like, 'I'm tired, I need some rest,' you know? But I think it's a common thing if you try hard and you play hard.' After a breakthrough 22-point performance against Wisconsin in late January, Mara became a bigger part of the rotation, his averages increasing to 8.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in 17.1 minutes over the final 16 games. Still, it wasn't enough to convince Mara that he should return for a third season in Westwood. 'I had expectations when I came here that I didn't achieve,' said Mara, whose coming to UCLA necessitated a messy split from his Spanish professional team. 'Also, I think I felt like I was playing good, practicing good, practicing hard, you know, putting in extra work and until Wisconsin I never had the opportunity to show that I was able to play, you know? And once [Cronin] gave me the opportunity, I saw — not a lot, but I saw what I could do, so those are the two reasons.' After the Bruins lost to Tennessee in the second round of the NCAA tournament, Mara returned to Spain to discuss his future with his parents. Though they offered support and guidance, Mara said, the decision to leave was his alone. 'I feel that I had to change,' Mara said, 'but I didn't want to.' Mara said he informed Cronin of his intentions after returning to campus at the end of last month, knowing that the coaching staff needed to quickly pivot to a replacement. Then he entered the transfer portal and commenced discussions with Michigan. One thing Mara said he did not do was demand more money or lay out a series of demands that would need to be met for him to remain at UCLA. Among the purported demands detailed by Bruin Report Online were Mara remaining in Spain for the summer and returning to his home country whenever he desired, not to mention the ability to dictate his own practice schedule and pull himself out of games whenever he wished. 'I feel like that's crazy,' Mara said of the alleged demands. 'For a player who is 20 years old asking a coach for not practicing or playing whenever he wants, I feel like that's a crazy thing. If someone does that, it's because, I don't know, but I would never say that. It's not true. … If someone who is 19, 20 or 21 says that, it's because he doesn't like basketball and I love basketball, so that's crazy for me.' Mara said he did ask Cronin if he could continue working out with Dave Andrews, the team's director of athletic performance who had helped him round into shape from an off-season foot injury. 'Dave did an unbelievable job with me,' Mara said. 'The time that he spent, the work that we did, that really helped me this year, so I knew that — because I thought that I was going to stay here for two months until I finished school, so that's what I asked him because I knew two months with him would make a huge difference for me, so that's the only thing that I asked him, to work with Dave. I said if I can, let me know. [Cronin] told me that [Andrews] was working with the guys that were staying here, so I was good.' Mara soon withdrew from classes, giving him only 15 days before his student visa expired. He's scheduled to fly to Spain on Sunday and spend about a month in his home country before reporting to Michigan for summer workouts. Why did Mara decide to become a Michigan man? He said he was impressed by the way coach Dusty May utilized 7-footers Vladislav Goldin and Danny Wolf, who bullied the Bruins during the Wolverines' 94-75 rout in January at Pauley Pavilion. Mara said he was also lured by Michigan's fast pace under May, who likes to use his big men in transition. With Goldin and Wolf departing, Mara will be joined in the frontcourt next season by Illinois transfer Morez Johnson Jr. 'I'm super excited to go to Michigan,' Mara said, 'to try to show everyone that I can play at a good level, that I can keep getting better and I know it's a Big Ten team, so excited to play against UCLA.' Mara was one of six UCLA players to enter the transfer portal after the season, joining center William Kyle III, forward Devin Williams and guards Dylan Andrews, Sebastian Mack and Dominick Harris. The Bruins have added four transfers in point guard Donovan Dent, wing Jamar Brown and centers Xavier Booker and Steven Jamerson II. 'The transfer portal is part of our world now,' said Cronin, whose roster will also benefit from the return of guard Eric Freeny and forward Brandon Williams from a redshirt season. 'We accept it and understand it. We wish all the guys well and continued growth as young men.' If all goes well, Mara could represent Spain as part of a triumphant return to Los Angeles for the 2028 Summer Olympics. Next season, he'll see his old teammates again, presumably in Ann Arbor. 'I'm really going to miss them,' Mara said, his smile returning. 'They are good people, good players. I guess we're going to see each other again in Michigan.'
