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The entirety of the Michigan basketball fanbase held its collective breath midway through the Final Four against Arizona, when star forward Yaxel Lendeborg had come up limping following a drive to the basket. Lendeborg had appeared to have twisted his ankle en route through the lane, and headed straight to the locker room after draining his foul shots. He came back out, but went right back in again.
He did come back in the second half, where he played another nine minutes (of 14 total), but it was revealed later that he had sprained both his ankle and his MCL (knee).
Lendeborg stated after the game that nothing was going to keep him away from the national championship contest against UConn, but what did his head coach, Dusty May, say about it? He shared more on Sunday at his championship game media availability.
"Yeah, all imaging has come back clean, and he's getting treatment and doing rehab all day today," May said. "I'm sure he'll give it a go tomorrow, but that will be entirely up to him and the medical staff. They'll tell me if he can go, and if he can -- we were laughing. He played the second half like a 38-year-old at the YMCA -- and a really good 38-year-old at the YMCA.
"Whatever version of Yaxel we get, it's going to be somebody that helps us play better basketball."
Michigan is going to need all hands on deck for the 2-seeded Huskies. Yes, UConn wasn't the most highly-ranked team, but considering it won two national championships in a row (2023, 2024) and is one year removed from the highest honor, May recognizes that he needs as much ammunition in his arsenal as possible.
Because, even if the Wolverines decimated a big favorite in Arizona, it's going to require everything to win on Monday.
"Yeah, we never ride momentum. It's what do we need to do to prepare to play well against UConn," May said. "They have championship DNA. They're conditioned to win. This run they're on is one of the best -- probably the best since John Wooden. If we think any momentum or wave, riding in on a wave is going to take care of UConn, then we're going to be very disappointed at about 11:00 tomorrow night or whenever the came concludes.
"We've got to bring our hard hats. We've got to be prepared to play disciplined basketball for 40 minutes and not get too high or too low and continue to play for each other like we've done."
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Yaxel Lendeborg injury update for Michigan title game
Continue reading...
He did come back in the second half, where he played another nine minutes (of 14 total), but it was revealed later that he had sprained both his ankle and his MCL (knee).
Lendeborg stated after the game that nothing was going to keep him away from the national championship contest against UConn, but what did his head coach, Dusty May, say about it? He shared more on Sunday at his championship game media availability.
"Yeah, all imaging has come back clean, and he's getting treatment and doing rehab all day today," May said. "I'm sure he'll give it a go tomorrow, but that will be entirely up to him and the medical staff. They'll tell me if he can go, and if he can -- we were laughing. He played the second half like a 38-year-old at the YMCA -- and a really good 38-year-old at the YMCA.
"Whatever version of Yaxel we get, it's going to be somebody that helps us play better basketball."
Michigan is going to need all hands on deck for the 2-seeded Huskies. Yes, UConn wasn't the most highly-ranked team, but considering it won two national championships in a row (2023, 2024) and is one year removed from the highest honor, May recognizes that he needs as much ammunition in his arsenal as possible.
Because, even if the Wolverines decimated a big favorite in Arizona, it's going to require everything to win on Monday.
"Yeah, we never ride momentum. It's what do we need to do to prepare to play well against UConn," May said. "They have championship DNA. They're conditioned to win. This run they're on is one of the best -- probably the best since John Wooden. If we think any momentum or wave, riding in on a wave is going to take care of UConn, then we're going to be very disappointed at about 11:00 tomorrow night or whenever the came concludes.
"We've got to bring our hard hats. We've got to be prepared to play disciplined basketball for 40 minutes and not get too high or too low and continue to play for each other like we've done."
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Yaxel Lendeborg injury update for Michigan title game
Continue reading...
