Yaxel Lendeborg or Jaden Bradley? Ranking transfer players in Final Four
Yaxel Lendeborg or Jaden Bradley? Ranking transfer players in Final Four
Craig Meyer, USA TODAY NETWORKSat, April 4, 2026 at 10:03 AM UTC
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As anyone around the sport will be quick to point out, roster-building in men’s college basketball has changed dramatically over the past several years.
With athletes now able to earn money off their name, image and likeness, deep-seated connections from a player’s grassroots days matter much less than the kind of financial package a school is able to offer them. While still important, as this season’s stellar class of first-year players showed, superstar freshmen don’t necessarily carry the county’s top teams in the same way they did a decade ago.
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Increasingly, college programs look overseas for potential roster additions, including from players competing in professional leagues. Then, of course, there’s the transfer portal.
Athletes who once had to sit out a year if they moved from one school to another are now immediately eligible, something that has fundamentally altered the sport and the way coaches go about constructing their teams. It’s exceedingly rare now for a player to end their career with the program where they began four years earlier and many of those players who have been on the move have become All-Americans, top NBA draft picks and centerpieces of Final Four — and even national championship — squads.
At this 2026 Final Four, that phenomenon will be on full display, with Michigan, Arizona, Illinois and UConn all relying heavily on at least one transfer.
How do those players stack up?
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Iowa State Cyclones fans cheer against the Kentucky Wildcats during the first half in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Enterprise Center on March 22, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri.
Ranking transfer players in the Final Four1. Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan
Yaxel Lendeborg #23 of the Michigan Wolverines dribbles the ball against the Tennessee Volunteers during the first half in the Elite Eight of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at the United Center on March 29, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois.
The list begins with the only consensus All-American taking the court at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Lendeborg was one of the highest-rated players in the transfer portal last season after averaging a double-double in each of the previous two seasons at Alabama-Birmingham.
He has more than lived up to the hype at Michigan, averaging 15.2 points, seven rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.2 rebounds per game while shooting an efficient 52%, including 37.2% from 3-point range. He has stepped up his game even more since the first round of the NCAA tournament, averaging 25 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game while shooting 61.4% overall, including 52.6% from 3.
2. Jaden Bradley, Arizona
Jaden Bradley #0 of the Arizona Wildcats reacts during the second half of a game against the Purdue Boilermakers in the Elite Eight of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at SAP Center on March 28, 2026 in San Jose, California.
When Bradley transferred to Arizona from Alabama in 2023, there was plenty of promise as a former top-30 recruit who averaged 6.4 points per game and started the majority of the season for a Crimson Tide team that was the No. 1 overall seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament. He has become something much more for the Wildcats over the past three seasons, becoming the steady maestro of one of the country’s most well-rounded teams this year.
The 6-foot-3 senior is averaging 13.3 points and 4.4 assists per game, shooting nearly 40% from 3, and is one of the most reliable defensive players in the country. While he’s only the No. 3 scorer on his own team, he’s Arizona’s most important player, as evidenced by him winning Big 12 Player of the Year.
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3. Tarris Reed Jr., UConn
Tarris Reed Jr. #5 of the UConn Huskies dunks against the Duke Blue Devils during the second half of a game in the Elite Eight of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 29, 2026 in Washington, DC.
After a productive regular season in which he earned first-team All-Big East recognition, Reed has taken his game up to another level while helping lead UConn to its third Final Four in the past four seasons. The 6-foot-11 big man has been arguably the best player in the tournament thus far, averaging 21.8 points, 13.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 60% from the field.
Like several other players on this list, Reed could get the opportunity to go up against his old program in the national championship. He started his career at Michigan, where he played his first two seasons before transferring after Juwan Howard was fired as the Wolverines’ coach in 2024.
4. Morez Johnson Jr., Michigan
Michigan Wolverines forward Morez Johnson Jr. (21) dunks the ball in the second half against the Tennessee Volunteers during an Elite Eight game of the Midwest Regional of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at United Center.
After a productive freshman season at Illinois, Johnson hit the portal last year and stayed in the Big Ten when he chose Dusty May and Michigan. The former top-40 recruit has made a sizable leap as a sophomore with the Wolverines, averaging 13.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per game while shooting 62.5% from the field. For his output, he made the All-Big Ten third team and all-defensive team.
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5. Aday Mara, Michigan
Michigan Wolverines center Aday Mara (15) dunks the ball against Howard Bison guard Bryce Harris (34) during the second half of a first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Keybank Center.
This time a year ago, Mara was a relatively little-used big man off the UCLA bench, averaging 6.4 points in 13 minutes per game as a sophomore. His move to Michigan last offseason has paid off extremely well for both parties.
The 7-foot-3 Spaniard is among the more skilled centers in the country, averaging 11.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game while displaying strong court vision and a deft passing touch. The Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year is an eraser at the rim, too, averaging 2.6 blocks per game — tied for the third-most among Division I players.
6. Andrej Stojakovic, Illinois
Illinois Fighting Illini guard Andrej Stojakovic (2) dunks the ball during the second half against the VCU Rams during a second round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
While the career 30.2% 3-point shooter doesn’t quite have the silky outside shooting touch of his father, former NBA All-Star Peja Stojakovic, Stojakovic has been a wildly productive player from virtually the moment he stepped on a college court.
The former McDonald’s All-American transferred between Bay Area rivals in 2024, going from Stanford to California, where he averaged 17.9 points per game last season. This year, his scoring has understandably dipped a bit to 13.6 points per game, but he has developed a more well-rounded game, scaling back on 3s and shooting 59% from inside the arc.
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7. Silas Demary Jr., UConn
Silas Demary Jr. #2 of the UConn Huskies reacts during the second half of a game against the Duke Blue Devils in the Elite Eight of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 29, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Demary’s a bit lower on this list than he might have been otherwise due to a high ankle sprain he suffered in the Big East Tournament.
After missing a first-round victory against Furman, the Georgia transfer was limited to two points in victories against UCLA and Michigan State in the second round and Sweet 16, respectively, before giving his team a much-needed boost in the Elite Eight with 11 points in a come-from-behind win against Duke, including 3s on back-to-back possessions with about seven minutes remaining. During the regular season, he was a Big East first-team all-conference and all-defensive team honoree.
8. Elliot Cadeau, Michigan
Mar 27, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; Michigan Wolverines guard Elliot Cadeau (3) reacts in the second half against the Alabama Crimson Tide during a Sweet Sixteen game of the Midwest Regional of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images
A five-star recruit coming out of high school in New Jersey, Cadeau never quite lived up to his immense hype in two seasons at North Carolina. Since transferring to Michigan, though, he has blossomed, averaging a team-high 5.8 assists per game while being the team’s No. 4 scorer at 10.2 points per game.
He has been even better in the NCAA Tournament, with 33 assists the Wolverines’ four NCAA tournament wins: the second-highest total of any player in the event.
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9. Kylan Boswell, Illinois
(L-R) Keaton Wagler #23, Kylan Boswell #4 and David Mirkovic #0 of the Illinois Fighting Illini celebrate after defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Elite Eight of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Toyota Center on March 28, 2026 in Houston, Texas.
Like Reed and Johnson, Boswell could end up facing his former school in the national championship game (if Illinois and Arizona both win in the semifinals). A five-star recruit in the 2022 class, Boswell started all but one game for the Wildcats in the 2023-24 season, but the Champaign, Illinois native opted after that season to transfer home, where he has been an integral piece for the Fighting Illini the past two years.
He’s Illinois’ No. 4 scorer this season at 12.5 points per game and has been arguably its best perimeter defender, having been named to the Big Ten all-defensive team.
10. Tobe Awaka, Arizona
Arizona Wildcats forward Tobe Awaka (30) scores past Arkansas Razorbacks forward Trevon Brazile (7) in the first half during a Sweet Sixteen game of the West Regional of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at SAP Center in San Jose, on March 26, 2026.
After playing sparingly in two seasons at Tennessee, Awaka transferred after the 2023-24 season to Arizona, where he’s now one of Tommy Lloyd’s most valuable pieces off the bench. The 6-foot-8 senior is a rebounding machine, ranking first among all Division I players in offensive rebounding percentage (getting the ball on 20.1% of missed shots while he’s on the court) and 19th in defensive rebounding percentage.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ranking best transfer players in Final Four, from Yaxel Lendeborg to Tobe Awaka
Source: “AOL Sports”
