Andy Kennedy looks to Yaxel Lendeborg to lead the Blazers in the AAC Tournament
By Steve Irvine
FORT WORTH, TEXAS - March 13, 2025
Forty more minutes in a UAB uniform is all that Yaxel Lendeborg is guaranteed when it comes to his college basketball journey. Those 40 minutes will come in the final quarterfinal of the American Athletic Conference Tournament game on Friday night at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
Obviously, the plan for Lendeborg and his UAB teammates is for much more than 40 minutes this weekend in Fort Worth. But, either way, Lendeborg’s time at UAB could very well be coming to a close.
“It feels very weird, I feel like I just got here,” said Lendeborg after Thursday’s practice session in a gym near Dickies Arena. “But I just want to go out there and play with my heart. I need to play as best I can, bring the most energy on the team, just to set an example that we need this win. I wanna get the win and we're back (at it on Saturday).”
The Blazers are returning to a building that holds special memories. A year ago, UAB won three games in three days with wins over Wichita State, No. 1 seed South Florida and Temple. Lendeborg averaged 15 points and 14 rebounds per game while earning tournament MVP honors.
Lendeborg said the memories came back quickly when he returned to Dickies Arena.
“Yeah, immediately,” Lendeborg said. “I started envisioning what happened last year. I started just thinking in my head, this could be our gym again. We could make that run that we did last year, if we can get as connected as we did last year.”
UAB is coming off one of its worst games of the season. The Blazers ended the regular season with a 85-68 loss at Tulane, which clinched the No.4 seed on the final day. Andy Kennedy said on Thursday that he “flushed (that loss) as fast as I've ever flushed one.”
“When I was watching it in live time, I was really disappointed that we just didn't play with any edge,” Kennedy said. “You've heard that before, right? From Vermont until now. I mean, we just don't play with enough edge for me in thinking, how do we reach our potential? I don't know how you do it if you're just not completely edged up. So I didn't think we play with enough edge. But I went back and watched the tape. I thought Tulane had a lot to do with that. I thought we missed some opportunities early. They got really, really confident in shooting the basketball and then they controlled the game.”
The next time that happens it could end the season for the Blazers. Keeping that from happening this week begins with Lendeborg, who found out earlier this week that he’s now a two-time winner of the AAC Defensive Player of the Year and a two-time All-AAC selection. As strange as it sounds, perhaps UAB needs even production and assertiveness from the only player in the league who averages a double-double (17.1 points, 10.5 rebounds) and one who leads the team in scoring, rebounding, assists, blocks and steals.
“We're all battling it right now,” Kennedy said. “We're battling the human psyche. (With Lendeborg) I wouldn't even call it a struggle. I'll call it a challenge. I think year one Yax to year two Yax, Yax has made huge strides. Is he exactly where you want him to be? No, none of us are, right? I mean, we're all trying to continue to get better, myself included, and I've been a head coach for 18 seasons. I hope I'm getting better every year. But I'm really proud of Yax. Again, he had a lot of options this time last year. He's going to have a lot of options again. I appreciate him coming back and being the player and really the ambassador for UAB basketball and UAB in general. He's a tremendous kid who's had a super impactful two years. And man, I'd like for it to finish on a great note.”
Lendeborg has options when it comes to his immediate future in basketball. The former junior college All-American has one more college season available and could maximize his NIL potential if he chooses that route. He also could begin professional basketball and chase a NBA opportunity.
“I mean, honestly, I've been thinking about it for a pretty long time, since, I would say, once conference started,” Lendeborg said. “That's when I started getting into the process of this could be my last year in college and and what am I going to do next year? Am I good enough to go to a higher level? And it's been leaning on my mind a lot. But I still got to keep the main thing, the main thing.”
The main thing right now is finding a way toward taking a positive step in the AAC Tournament.