Michigan's Dusty May shares 'learning lesson' after wild Yaxel Lendeborg video goes viral originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The hype around the matchup between the No. 1 Michigan Wolverines and No. 7 Purdue Boilermakers is immense. Not only is it a marquee game during a loaded Big Ten slate Tuesday night, but a game that may go a long way in determining a conference champion.
All eyes will likely be locked in on Mackey Arena game as recent controversy ensued when Wolverines forward Yaxel Lendeborg was seen in a now-viral video trash-talking the Boilermakers.
It wasn't in a friendly way either.
In the brief clip, Lendeborg yelled obscene remarks about his upcoming opponent, including "gonna spank their f— a—. We gonna beat they f— a—. F— Purdue."
Coach Dusty May addressed the video at his latest press conference, saying it has since been rectified by both May and Lendeborg despite ongoing social media discourse.
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"Look, it's a great lesson," May told reporters. "It's one of the reasons he's here. He wanted to learn to be a better pro, and to be a better pro, you need to have the mindset that you're probably always being recorded, and if there's ever a moment that someone can use that information against you."
May said Lendeborg would have opted not to say anything if he were to redo the moment over again.
"'Coach, I don't even use that language in conversation," May recalled Lendeborg saying. "I don't like the way it makes me look. I feel terrible about it.' And then obviously how he's perceived to our fan base and those that he cares about."
May said that if the roles were reversed, the same outcome would likely have occurred for Purdue. Therefore, May holds sympathy in this regard.
"Moving forward, it's a good learning lesson," May said. "I can't imagine that [Fletcher] Loyer and TKR and Braden Smith and those guys are sitting around motivated by what Yaxel Lendeborg said in an over-21 establishment four months ago. I think that they're killers as is, and so as far as bulletin board material, I'm not sure that that means much when it comes time to execute pick-and-roll defense or transition defense."
All in all, though, the relationship between Lendeborg and May couldn't be stronger, May said.
"He made a mistake," May said. "This is a learning lesson. We can't go back in time and change it. There's a lot of people in our profession saying things that if they're in a clear-headed state of mind they probably wouldn't say, and chalk this up to one of those. But he's a wonderful human being that he'll be better because of this."
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The Wolverines (24-1, 14-1 Big Ten) have won 10 in a row, while the Boilermakers (21-4, 11-3 Big Ten) try to extend their streak to five-straight wins since a Jan. 27 loss to the Indiana Hoosiers (17-9, 8-7 Big Ten) in Bloomington.
Tip is set for 6:30 p.m. ET on Peacock.
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