Michigan basketball has had one of the best offseasons in college basketball. For the second year in a row, Dusty May has worked some miracles in the transfer portal.
It's not a miracle. May is just a genius. He knows how to recruit, identifies players who can get into Michigan, and has raised enough NIL money to get them signed on the dotted line.
The Wolverines are still try to do that with Yaxel Lendeborg, who is committed to Michigan basketball, but has also declared for the NBA draft. Yaxel visited over the weekend and the vibes are good. The Wolverines might not be able to overcome if the NBA sees him as a late first-round pick.
Yet, it feels like there's a better chance of him ending up at Michigan than in the NBA draft (after the visit). With that in mind, you could see the impact of Yaxel and the rest of an elite transfer portal haul in a Bracketology projection from ESPN's Joe Lunardi for the 2026 NCAA tournament.
After making the Sweet 16 last season, and winning the Big Ten tournament championship, the Wolverines are projected to be a No. 2 seed next season by Lunardi, which means they will be of the top eight teams going into the tournament.
It's not a reach to a call a No. 2 seed a national title contender and if the Wolverines are able to convince Yaxel to play one more season of college basketball (in Ann Arbor), that won't be hyperbole.
It will be completely realistic.