INDIANAPOLIS—-Tucked within a sea of cameras and bodies was Yissel Raposo draped on the back of her son Yaxel Lendeborg. Lendeborg and Raposo have been through Hell and back together, but in this moment they stood on the mountaintop.
Lendeborg had just written the final chapter and closed the book on college basketball’s greatest story. He was a directionless teenager, a relatively unrecruited high schooler and a JUCO player with an uphill climb to see a Division-I court. Now, he’s on top of the world. Everything was worth it because it led him to this point.
A few moments earlier, Lendeborg held a yellow sign that read “shock the world, Boys, Go Blue!” and was embraced with the loudest cheer that anyone on Michigan’s roster received. The Michigan forward playing in this game at all was ill advised due to injury, but he wasn’t going to miss it for the world. It was his chance to immortalize himself, and he took advantage of it.
This is what he came here for. This is why he never gave up.
“Best decision I ever made,” Lendeborg said in regard to his choice to play at Michigan. “Best year of my life.”
Lendeborg’s reflection came just outside the 3-point line, where he quickly slashed to the basket after his final moments with the media. “Go cut your net,” a Michigan official said. When Lendeborg did so, the contingent of Michigan fans still in the building serenaded him with a roar. Lendeborg has only been a part of this program for a season, but this fanbase has embraced him as one of their own. He’s embraced them back and is among the few players in program history to deliver a championship to them.
The Michigan forward did that literally as he sat on the back of a golf cart in the hallway outside of Michigan’s locker room after asking staffers “where is the trophy?” Only Lendeborg could ask that and receive the trophy in the moments immediately following his inquiry.
The Michigan forward and Wolverines’ freshman guard Trey McKenney–who hit the dagger and left no doubt as to whether this group of mortals would become champions—posed with it from the back of the golf cart on the way to their postgame press conference while Final Four Most Outstanding Player Elliot Cadeau sat in the passengers’ seat.
Cadeau had just finished a borderline heroic 19-point performance, which allowed him to lead all scorers. The North Carolina transfer was met with a tangible skepticism when he opted to become a Wolverine, but now those that doubted him have to acknowledge him as a champion.
“I'm just so proud of myself,” Cadeau said. “Last year I was really down on myself, a lot of people doubted me, and I'm just so proud of myself for me to be able to say I was the most outstanding player and win a National Championship at the same time.”
Fittingly enough, Cadeau’s locker was soaked in the water that was thrown around the Michigan locker room in celebration after the championship win. Down the way from Cadeau’s chair was a table with goggles laid out on top of it. This program knew that, for the first time since 1989, it was on top of the college basketball world and had to celebrate accordingly.
There was no part of Michigan’s locker room that wasn’t the splash zone, and the Wolverines wanted it that way. Michigan coach Dusty May built this thing right away on psychological freedom and made a choice to embrace every personality that came through the door, no matter how big or small. This Michigan team went viral for its rendition of Natasha Bedingfield's song, “Unwritten” as well as its antics in May's on-floor postgame interviews.
Best believe this group wasn’t going to let this moment pass them by. They’ve got personalities ranging from Lendeborg’s sizeable one to Morez Johnson’s approach–which is always business like. They’ve got a number of stories, too. Those stories have merged to form one of this program’s best ever.
“It makes it more fulfilling that they were able to take all those different things and commit to one singular goal,” Michigan assistant Mike Boynton told Basket Under Review. “I'm glad that they got it done for each other.”
While Cadeau was absent from the locker room and in attendance at the press conference, all that remained on his chair was the cap of a water bottle and a cardboard sign that declared Michigan champions. The Michigan guard earned that sign’s presence at his locker and would finally get to claim it at the end of the night, when he was out of the spotlight for the first time since he waved his arms towards the crowd after McKenny’s late make from 3-point range.
Next to Cadeau’s water-soaked locker and chair sat Nimari Burnett, who dealt with a similar spotlight and the perception that he was too injury prone to be a dependable player on a winning team. If he hadn’t dispelled that already, though, Burnett did on Monday night as he ended his college career with swarms of media surrounding him.
Burnett and Michigan forward Will Tschetter saw this program at a record low in the year prior to May’s arrival and wondered if he even wanted to retain them. Turns out, May had visions of those two being a part of something that could make everything they went through as members of this program worth it. Even the injuries were worth it, Burnett says.
“You're gonna make me cry again,” Burnett said from his locker in regard to a question about injuries. “You can't cheat the work. You can't cheat the time until yourself physically and mentally. And I'm grateful for God's and just helping me persevere through the ups and downs and trials and tribulations.”
Boynton told Basket Under Review that this staff always had championship aspirations, but to say that they expected to achieve what they have through May’s first two seasons would be unrealistic. They envisioned that by staying, Burnett would win a number of games. They didn’t envision that he’d be embracing his family in the stands of Lucas Oil Stadium while a number of cameras followed him.
They’ve done it, though. May’s son, Charlie, says that his dad brought in the right people and prioritized relationships in order to speed up the process. And that he did.
Michigan was 29-2 in the regular season and went 19-1 in Big Ten play. Its most impressive times were still ahead at that point, though. They would come in the NCAA Tournament, when an opponent didn’t come within 12 points of Michigan before Monday night’s win. Three of the five teams it played – including a No. 6 and a No. 9 seed – didn’t come within 20 points. And the most convincing win wasn’t one of those three; that was a 91-73 trouncing of Arizona – which was ranked No. 1 for nine weeks this season.
May’s team punctuated its historical season with its 37th win on Monday night against a program that has championship DNA. Turns out that May’s does, too. As a result, he gets to celebrate his first national title in his home state.
“It still doesn’t feel real,” May said on the podium in front of Michigan’s fanbase.
Spoiler alert; it is real.
Perhaps the most surreal moment of them all was the one in which each Michigan player and staffer turned to the corner jumbotron in Lucas Oil Stadium to watch One Shining Moment. Cadeau and Michigan assistant Justin Joyner–who says he doesn’t eat chicken, but that if he did then Michigan’s postgame meal would be the sweetest chicken that he ever had–were being interviewed during the video, but a number of Michigan walk-ons and Wolverines’ big man Aday Mara stood inside the 3-point line and embraced the moment together.
Mara is as big of a piece as any in this title run and is expected to depart for the NBA Draft now that this is all said and done. If the moments in which he was jumping around on the floor while wearing a Spain flag as a cloak are the last he has as a Michigan player, they’re fitting. Mara was on the verge of his birthday–which came as soon as the clock hit midnight–and got to represent his country with his drapery as well as a few answers to questions that came in Spanish.
It was nearly 6:00 AM in Spain when Michigan sealed the deal on the championship, but Mara hopes that he inspired a number of people from his homeland with the 30 minutes he played and his pride for his country.
“I like being able to represent my country. and show my flag, my country in this scenario,” Mara said."It means a lot, super grateful that I'm from Spain.”
After a win like Michigan had on Monday night in Indianapolis, every person on its roster is platformed to share something important to them. For Mara, it’s his homeland. For Charlie May, it’s his friendship with Michigan Director of Basketball Operations KT Harrell’s son KJ–who was wearing his jersey and the Michigan walk-on says is his dog. For Roddy Gayle, it’s the benefit of taking a smaller role and embracing it for the good of the team.
For all of them, though, it’s about Michigan and what it’s done for them individually. It’s about what they’ve done for it, too. “This night is all about Michigan.” TNT host Ernie Johnson said while interviewing May on the court. And on Monday night, Michigan stood on the floor while “We Are The Champions” blared from the loudspeakers.
“There’s a saying at our school, ‘those who stay will be champions,’” Charlie May said, “And I think those guys are living embodiments of that.”
