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A few days before Christmas, University of Michigan basketball star Yaxel Lendeborg came home to Pennsauken to surprise his ailing mother with a gift – new Jeep Wrangler.
He also dropped in at Pennsauken High School to see his old coach, Harrison Carsillo, and speak with the team there.
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“He took a half-hour and answered questions and told them his story,” Carsillo said.
What a story it’s been. After academic ineligibility cost him two-plus years of high school ball, Lendeborg is a first-team All-American and the leader of a team that is rolling into this weekend’s Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. His message was palpable for Carsillo’s players.
Michigan guard Elliot Cadeau (3) and forward Yaxel Lendeborg (23) both hail from New Jersey
“Believe in yourself and never give up on your dreams,” the coach said. “Here’s a guy who sat in the seats your sitting in and wore the jersey you’re wearing, and look where he is now.”
He’s in Indianapolis, where the Wolverines play Arizona in the national semifinals Saturday in the most anticipated game of the college basketball season. And he’s one of two New Jerseyans in Michigan’s starting lineup. Point guard Elliot Cadeau grew up in West Orange and attended Bergen Catholic High School for two years. They took markedly different paths to their current station, but they’re both repping the Garden State on the biggest stage in college sports.
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“It shows we’re as good at basketball as anywhere in the country,” Bergen Catholic coach Billy Armstrong said. “I feel like every night, when I turn on a college game, there’s somebody out there from New Jersey or New York.”
Elliot Cadeau and ‘that feel for the game’
Bergen Catholic hosts Don Bosco in a boys basketball game in Oradell on Friday March 5, 2021. B #3 Elliot Cadeau with the ball.
Cadeau was a blue-chipper all the way, a five-star recruit whose college career began at North Carolina.
“You could see from day one he was at…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/final-four-features-michigans-jersey-103513042.html
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Publish date : 2026-04-02 10:35:00
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