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Yaxel Lendeborg won his second ring in four months Sunday, leading the Golden State Warriors past the Memphis Grizzlies 94-90 in the NBA summer league championship game at UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center. Lendeborg, who starred for the University of Michigan's NCAA title team last season, finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds to outduel Cameron Boozer in an intense showdown of 2026 lottery picks. He became just the second player to win a Division I NCAA championship and a Vegas summer league title in the same year, joining Davion Mitchell. "Coming into this program, I just wanted to prove that I'm a winner," said Lendeborg, the 11th pick in last month's draft. "Doing stuff like this -- not caring about the stats and just caring about the outcome. I'm going to continue to push that into next season with the bigger Warriors. ... At Michigan, we played team ball. Here, we play team ball. That's what wins games and championships."
“My resume speaks for itself, man,” said Boozer, the NCAA Player of the Year. “So, if a team wants to hang a (championship) banner in the rafters, I’m definitely their guy. All of these guys here, we’ve been playing against each other since eighth grade. People have been talking about how special this class is and we showed it. We’re going to keep showing it at the next level.”
League sources say that the Magic are admirers of Michigan's Dusty May and would have a level of interest if he were indeed available. It must be noted that the expectation at this point in the college game is that May will stay with the Wolverines after they beat UConn for the national championship. Does May, however, indeed have NBA aspirations?
Jon Rothstein: Sources: Michigan's Morez Johnson has declared for the 2026 NBA Draft while maintaining his college eligibility. The 6-9 Johnson is currently projected to be a mid-first round pick. Averaged 13.1 PPG and 7.3 RPG last season & was a major part of the national title run.
Matt Norlander: NEWS—Henri Veesaar is leaving UNC and intends to stay in the NBA Draft, source told @CBSSports. Avgd 17.0 pts, 8.7 rebs, shot ~42% from 3. Big domino on this NCAA draft declaration deadline day. Veesaar a potential 1st-rounder but will leave a big NIL💰 on the table as a result
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New Balance executive Chris Davis: If you look at the NBA, I’m pretty sure we have seven or eight All-Stars, starting with Kawhi (Leonard) to Zach LaVine, Tyrese Maxey, Jamal Murray, Dejounte Murray, Darius Garland, and then enter Cooper Flagg. In this year’s draft, we have Caleb Wilson, who is a star freshman from North Carolina and will be a top-five pick. And then as a senior in high school, we have Jordan Smith Jr., who’s the top recruit in the country going into the NCAA; he’s committed to Arkansas. So that’s what the basketball landscape looks like.
Hannes Steinbach turned down massive NCAA NIL opportunities before declaring for the 2026 NBA Draft, sources tell BasketNews. According to sources, the projected top-20 pick received offers worth up to $10 million gross, but ultimately chose to pursue his NBA ambitions.
Justin Martinez: Asked Cason Wallace what it was like to see his girlfriend, Kiki Rice, help the UCLA women’s basketball team win its first NCAA championship:“That was great. It was fun just seeing her live out her dreams. She was very excited and happy. She works every day. It’s a lot of work and she’s consistent with it, so for her to have those achievements and her hard work paying off is great.”
Asked Cason Wallace what it was like to see his girlfriend, Kiki Rice, help the UCLA women’s basketball team win its first NCAA championship:
— Justin Martinez (@Justintohoops) April 7, 2026
“That was great. It was fun just seeing her live out her dreams. She was very excited and happy. She works every day. It’s a lot of work… pic.twitter.com/MfUeWc89Fl
Villanova’s Acaden Lewis plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, while also declaring for the NBA Draft and maintaining eligibility, On3 has learned. Lewis played one season for the Wildcats as a freshman.
Kansas sophomore Flory Bidunga intends to declare for the NBA draft while maintaining his college eligibility, sources told ESPN on Thursday. Bidunga also intends to enter the NCAA transfer portal, sources said, as he's keeping open the option to return to college.
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Former Virginia All-American and NBA standout Malcolm Brogdon was named Strategic Advisor to Men’s Basketball, Dean and Markel Families Men’s Head Basketball Coach Ryan Odom announced Tuesday (March 31). “We are thrilled to welcome back Malcolm to Grounds in this newly-created position in our program,” Odom said. “Malcolm will serve our program as a special advisor, bringing a wealth of knowledge, leadership and expertise from his successful nine-year NBA career and All-American career at Virginia.”
Baker is in her fourth season with the Blue Devils (34-2), the No. 1 seed of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament’s East Region. Duke faces No. 5 seed St. John’s (30-6) today in the Sweet 16. “Oh my gosh, my job is the best,” Baker, 35, told Andscape. “And I think I’ve had really, really, really, really hard days. The hardest days of my life have been in this job. But every single day you take a step back and I think about the little girl who is faking sick to go to practice with my dad, or hearing Bob Huggins curse somebody out when my dad worked for him at Cincinnati, to now, genuinely, I consider [Duke head coach] Jon Scheyer one of my best friends. He is my boss. There’s a lot of respect there, but sometimes he asks me questions and it’s like pinch me, like, ‘You want to know what I think about that?’ So, I try and it never gets old. It’s unbelievable.” To say Baker was qualified for her job is an understatement. She brought a unique combination of lifetime basketball experience and financial expertise to Duke.
Shams Charania: Arkansas freshman star Darius Acuff Jr. has landed a signature shoe with Reebok, becoming the first NCAA men’s athlete to receive one from a major U.S. brand while still in college, Reebok’s head of basketball, Jide Osifeso, tells ESPN.
Which NCAA prospect impresses you the most so far? NBA executive #1: “The top three are the top three, in any order. It’s probably going to be AJ Dybantsa [BYU] and Darryn Peterson [Kansas] at No. 1 or 2. But Cameron Boozer [Duke] has put himself in that conversation. He should be considered. Statistically, he’s the best college basketball player. He’s that dominant. The ceiling is much higher for Peterson and Dybantsa than Boozer. How much will he get better? Sure, he’s going to get better. But the upside of Peterson and Dybantsa are much higher. That’s probably why Boozer will end up at No. 3. But from a talent perspective, he’s as good as those two guys.”