Next year’s Yaxel Lendeborg? Six mid-major transfers leveling up who have star potential

Michigan star Yaxel Lendeborg was the best transfer in college basketball this season — and arguably the best of the recent portal era: A 6-foot-9 Swiss Army knife of a forward who earned first-team All-America honors and led Michigan to its second national title.

Lost in the gravitas of Lendeborg’s excellence was his winding journey to Ann Arbor and college hoops stardom in the first place. Lendeborg played his first three college seasons in junior college at Arizona Western, broke into Division I with two years at UAB, then finally matriculated to the Big Ten last season. Nothing about Lendeborg’s journey was normal — or relatively replicable.

But it’s a fun thought experiment during college basketball’s transfer season, at least: Who is the next Yaxel Lendeborg?

Behold, six mid-major players (in alphabetical order) who transferred up this cycle and are most likely to repeat Lendeborg’s feat and go from mid-major darling to high-major star:

Leroy Blyden, Kansas

2025-26 stats (at Toledo): 16.4 points, 4.5 assists, 4 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game; 40.7 percent from 3 and 84.6 percent from the free-throw line.The Athletic transfer portal rank: 46

The MAC Freshman of the Year will have the ball in his hands a lot in Lawrence due to Kansas’ thin backcourt. But given the multiple ways Blyden can score, plus his creation ability in the pick-and-roll, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The 6-foot-1 guard will have a tougher time against the Big 12’s size and physicality, but he’s a willing gunner — taking 5.6 3s per game — and above-average athlete who can make slower defenders pay. He also shot 63 percent at the rim last season, per CBB Analytics, which makes him a tricky cover when combined with his deeper range.

What else will Blyden do, though? His steals total was a bit misleading, and Kansas coach Bill Self will need to bulk him up and teach him more consistent defensive habits. If anyone can do that, Self can — especially if Blyden holds his own offensively. Expecting him to become a future lottery pick, or even an All-Big 12 selection, is probably a stretch, but he’s more than a capable high-major starter who can have the occasional offensive outburst when his 3-point shot is dialed in.

Cruz Davis, Texas Tech

2025-26 stats (at Hofstra): 20.1 points, 4.7 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game; 40 percent from 3 and 83 percent from the free-throw line.The Athletic transfer portal rank: 54

Davis is a lightning bolt with the ball in his hands. That was key to his winning CAA Player of the Year and leading Hofstra to the NCAA Tournament, where he posted 14 points and six assists against Alabama. The 6-foot-3 guard lived in the pick-and-roll, per Synergy, with 40 percent of his offense coming as a handler, which is exactly the role Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland is going to ask him to fill in replacing likely first-round pick Christian Anderson. You’d think defenses could try to sag off someone as fast as Davis, to give themselves room to recover, until you realize he also shot 41.5 percent from 3 as a pick-and-roll handler. So, future Big 12 foes, pick your poison.

What made Anderson so dynamic for Texas Tech, though, was his equal propensity for scoring and setting up others. Davis, at least the last two years, has mostly been a scorer, so we’ll see if McCasland can extract more passing. But the lefty should have plenty of opportunities to keep scoring at a place that finished top five nationally in 3-point percentage.

Delrecco Gillespie, Houston

2025-26 stats (at Kent State): 17.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.2 blocks per game; 78.9 percent from the free-throw line.The Athletic transfer portal rank: 37

As good as the Cougars’ perimeter was this season with dynamic freshman Kingston Flemings, Houston sorely missed J’Wan Roberts’ interior scoring and putback prowess. Houston had been top 11 in offensive rebounding percentage for six years straight, per KenPom, before falling to 33rd this season. The drop-off was notable. Kelvin Sampson obviously felt the same way, because he quickly acquired one of the better rebounders in the portal: Gillespie, a 6-foot-8 Kent State forward who slots in next to Joseph Tugler in Houston’s starting frontcourt.

Gillespie was top 10 last season in defensive rebounding rate, per KenPom, and just outside the top 200 in offensive rebounding rate. A whopping 74.2 percent of his shots came at the rim or in the paint, per CBB Analytics, where he shot 56.7 percent. The philosophical transition should be easy — and while Gillespie may struggle at times with Big 12 length, this is one of the more natural fits of this portal season.

Allen Graves, undecided

2025-26 stats (at Santa Clara): 11.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.8 assists per game; 41.3 percent from 3 and 75 percent from the free-throw line.The Athletic transfer portal rank: 6

Graves — who is expected to land either at Duke or LSU if he decides not to stay in the NBA Draft — is arguably the most apt comparison to Lendeborg a year ago: a potential first-round combo forward who can do a little bit of everything. Lendeborg was a better handler and passer than Graves is, but the 6-foot-9 redshirt freshman is the type of instant-impact up-transfer who is worth building a roster around.

Unranked as a high school recruit, Graves is a defensive disruptor who ranked seventh in all of DI in steal rate and top 200 in block rate, per KenPom. And while he’s a metrics darling on defense, he’s just as effective offensively. He’s an elite pick-and-pop threat — which he showed against Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament — but also a proficient interior scorer, whose drop step and touch around the rim make him a tough cover against even high-major length and strength. Graves could be a first-rounder if he goes pro this spring, but a starring role at Duke or LSU would only boost his case a year from now, and in a much leaner class.

Jaquan Johnson, Iowa State

2025-26 stats (at Bradley): 16.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.5 steals per game, while shooting 38.3 percent from 3 and 78.4 percent from the free-throw line.The Athletic transfer portal rank: 53

Johnson, the Missouri Valley Defensive Player of the Year, is a better defensive than offensive player — but not only does that play at Iowa State, it’s almost exactly what the Cyclones need in their Tamin Lipsey replacement. Johnson is a pest of a defender, especially potent at creeping up to (and under) opposing ballhandlers to poke away the rock. He can do so everywhere: in zone, transition and the standard half-court. His steal rate was the 10th-best in DI last season, per KenPom, and he had six games with at least five, including nine against UT-Martin in Bradley’s third game of the season. In that respect, he’ll fit in great in Ames.

Offensively, the fit is less certain. Johnson is listed at 5-foot-11 but is probably closer to 5-foot-9, and already struggled to finish inside against MVC competition. He’s at least a fine shooter who can handle decent volume. He was very free-throw reliant last season — drawing 6.2 fouls per 40 minutes, per KenPom, a top-75 rate nationally — and it’s fair to wonder whether he’ll be so proficient at drawing contact in the Big 12.

Alex Wilkins, Kentucky

2025-26 stats (at Furman): 17.8 points, 4.7 assists and two rebounds per game; 32.8 percent from 3 and 82.4 percent from the free-throw line.The Athletic transfer portal rank: 31

Kentucky’s overall portal haul leaves something (or plenty) to be desired, but not because of Wilkins. The 6-foot-5 rising sophomore scored 21 points against eventual national runner-up UConn in the NCAA Tournament, and looked every bit capable of hanging at the high-major level. He’s one of the craftier mid-major guards up-transferring this cycle, with all the physical intangibles to excel in the SEC.

Wilkins drew 5.1 fouls per 40 minutes for Furman — nearly a top-250 rate nationally, per KenPom — and it’s easy to understand why with the way he cuts through defenses. He’s adept at getting defenders on their heels or retreating, then quickly attacking their weak points with speed and his longer frame. He has an impressive layup package around the rim, but he cooks in the midrange, where he ranked in the 81st percentile nationally in field-goal percentage, per CBB Analytics. He’s also a willing and creative passer who should thrive within Kentucky coach Mark Pope’s larger offensive system. It’ll help his efficiency that he won’t have to carry nearly the scoring burden he did at Furman, when he posted the 18th-highest usage rate in DI, per KenPom. The SEC is stacked at guard, but it wouldn’t be shocking if Wilkins is in all-conference contention.