Yaxel Lendeborg set a personal goal when Michigan started practice at the very beginning of what would become its 2026 national championship season. He wanted to dunk on new teammate Aday Mara.

“I tried a couple times when I first got here, and he ruined my confidence so quickly,” Lendeborg said after Michigan beat UConn in the title game.

Mara had just come over from UCLA after two disappointing seasons where he could barely get off the bench, and his size made him an inviting target for a poster. Standing 7’3 with a reported 7’7 wingspan, the Spanish big man had measurables few humans in the world could match. Realizing that Mara shouldn’t be challenged at the rim was only one part of the process. As Michigan brought in four new starters via the transfer portal, there was a steep learning curve for everyone when it came to how to maximize their gigantic center.

“He’s definitely the most unique big man I’ve ever played with,” Elliott Cadeau told SB Nation ahead of the national championship game. “It took some time for us to get some chemistry. We talk about the ball screen literally every practice. We’re both really high-IQ players. When teams play us two-on-two, we feel like we can get whatever we want.”

The entire country knows what Mara is capable of now after the Wolverines completed one of the most dominant national championship runs of the last 30 years. There were plenty of key takeaways from how Michigan built its title team, but the biggest one is size. Lendeborg, Mara, and Morez Johnson all primarily played center at their previous schools, but shared the court at Michigan with resounding success. Each of them played a part in making it work: Lendeborg flushed out his perimeter skill in an attempt to appeal to NBA scouts, Johnson showed the ability to defend all of the floor and started taking threes, and Mara proved he could play at the top of the key offensively due to his innate passing touch.

Michigan head coach Dusty May sold his stars on his vision of the three-big front line during the offseason recruiting process, but Mara admitted he wasn’t always sold he would be such a focal point. He had reason to be skeptical. When he entered UCLA, SB Nation projected Mara as a one-and-one done top-10 pick for the 2024 draft after standout showings in FIBA tournaments for Spain. Instead, he quickly lost his starting spot as a freshman and continued to have a small role off the bench as a sophomore. Head coach Mick Cronin often cited conditioning and matchup issues for why he didn’t get more playing time.

Cronin looks like a fool now, because Mara was legitimately one of the most impactful big men in college basketball. That’s just the start of it. After breaking into NBA mock drafts again midway through the season as a late first-round pick, Mara’s exceptional NCAA tournament run now has him positioned to be a lottery selection. SB Nation had him projected as the No. 9 overall pick to the Chicago Bulls in our mock draft after March Madness was over. He’s also in lottery position on ESPN’s big board.

Mara was perhaps the single biggest breakout star of March Madness this year, and his continued climb up the 2026 NBA Draft board is next. He’ll have a few things working in his favor when he decides to make the jump to the next level.

Mara has shooting touch even if he doesn’t yet have range

Mara’s scoring efficiency inside was absurd all season: he shot 68 percent on two-pointers, 81 percent at the rim, and 41.1 percent on non-rim twos. His two-point percentage remained just about the same even against top-100 and top-50 competition, and even if you take away his dunks (he had 81 of them on the year), he still shot 72 percent at the rim.

His comfort in the post continued to grow as the season went on. By the time March Madness started, Mara was making a fool out of even very good opposing centers with his size and touch.

Mara is going to be one of the tallest and longest player in the NBA from the day he’s drafted. Victor Wembanyama and Zach Edey are just about the only players who can top him in those departments. He may have issues establishing post position against NBA bigs with a higher center of gravity, but his ability to hit baby hooks and flip shots gives him some real scoring utility even if it won’t be the best part of his game.

One of the biggest red flags in Mara’s statistical profile is his terrible free throw percentage. He shot 56.4 percent from the free throw line this season, and only 58.5 percent over his college career on 241 attempts. Free throw percentage is a proxy for touch, and at first glance it seems like Mara doesn’t have it.

It’s worth noting that Mara got consistently better from the free throw stripe all year. Over his last 20 games this season, he shot 74 percent from the foul line by hitting 37-of-50 freebies. That’s encouraging growth, and it comes back to the coaching he received at Michigan. Mara said he was hitting his free throws well in practice, but missing them in games. May started making Mara take high-pressure free throws to end practices, and encouraged him by showing there was nothing wrong with his form. Eventually, they started to drop when it really mattered.

Will Mara be able to shoot threes eventually? He only went 3-for-10 on the year, but he told me he believes it will be part of his skill set in time. He was just doing what his team needed.

“I know it’s in my game,” Mara told SB Nation. “I know I don’t shoot a lot. Sometimes I’m rushing, but I know it’s in my game. I have confidence, and if I get it again, I will shoot it again.”

Can Mara maintain his late season free throw touch? Can the three-ball be a real part of his game? Those are two of the biggest questions related to his upside at the next level. Even if the threes never come, he has a few other ways to impact the game as a scorer.

Mara is going to be a plus as an offensive rebounder, which will work in his favor as offensive rebounding takes on more emphasis in the battle for the possession game at the NBA level. He’s also a big target as a roller, and his soft hands allow him to catch the ball on the move. He’s going to be a dominant lob threat with a massive catch radius. Mara probably won’t ever be a 20-point-per-game scorer at the NBA, but his efficiency on the interior, ability to generate extra possessions on the glass, and massive length advantage gives him some bankable scoring ability as he goes on his career.

Mara’s passing ability is special

The best sight in college basketball this season was Mara’s outlet passing ability. He always has his eyes up after grabbing a rebound, and he proved he can throw full court dimes to get his team an easy two points. He did it again:

Transition offense is far more efficient than halfcourt offense at every level of the game. Mara’s ability to throw deep passes with pinpoint accuracy is basically a cheat code for igniting transition opportunities, and it should be a big part of his game at the next level.

Mara doesn’t just throw outlets. He’s an extremely creative passer with behind-the-back looks and between-the-legs drop-offs in his bag:

He’ll be a weapon in the short roll, too.

There are some moments where it feels like Mara holds onto the ball too long before making a pass or deciding to attack. Quicker processing will be essential to maximize his ability at the next level. It’s easy to believe that should improve with more reps for a player who never had a real role in his college career before this season. Either way, Mara is one of the best passers in the country regardless of size, and the fact that he’s doing it at 7’3 gives him unique utility as he goes on in his career.

Mara’s rim protection is elite, but there are other defensive questions

Mara’s length translates most obviously on the defensive end. He doesn’t have great coverage versatility, but he’s effective in deep drop, and his length gives him an ability to challenge shots and close windows on pull-up shooters when they bail out of their drive before getting to the rim.

Mara finished the year with a 11.9 percent block rate. Good luck challenging him at the rim. If a 23-year-old tank like Lendeborg couldn’t get Mara in practice, most NBA players won’t be able to, either.

UConn’s Tarris Reed was probably the second-best player in the NCAA tournament after Lendeborg. He had no answers for Mara when he met him in the national championship game. Mara’s length disrupted everything Reed was trying to do inside, and eventually you could see he was getting psyched out of even attempting looks he would normally drain.

That’s what Mara’s length and shot-blocking functionally provides on the court: he makes everyone second-guess if they can really get the shot off. Being tentative for even a split second can be a death wish in the NBA, and Mara makes it happen regularly to his opponents.

Mara’s perimeter defense is more of a work in progress. He can be attacked on switches by quicker guards who can separate from him with their first and second steps. Showing an ability to defend the stretch bigs all over the NBA will be vital. Can Mara recover to the perimeter on pick-and-pop attempts? Can he stay strong on his feet when a ball handler attacks a closeout? There were encouraging moments on the tape, but also plenty of instances where he got caught flat footed.

I asked Mara about his defending on the perimeter after Michigan’s Sweet 16 win over Alabama, and here’s what he told me.

“I know I’m capable of playing like a good defense outside,” Mara told SB Nation. “I think when I was against Purdue (in the Big Ten tournament championship game), I had like a terrible game there defensively. But I know that I’m able to to play defense and switch onto guards or whoever has the ball outside. Sometimes I go to a game I’m not ready to play outside defense, but I think like if I’m ready, if I’m with a good mindset and with a high intensity level, I can do it for sure.”

Mara is a team player who should be a welcome presence in any locker room

I spoke with Mara in the post-game locker room after Michigan beat Wisconsin in the Big Ten tournament on March 14. He had a phenomenal game that afternoon, finishing with 16 points, five blocks, eight rebounds. I asked him how he’s developed more comfort as a scorer as the season has gone on, but he immediately deflected the credit.

“It doesn’t matter if I score 20 or if I score four,” Mara told me. “It’s just about helping the team win. The last two games I’ve been able to help the team by scoring. But maybe tomorrow I score 0 points and I get five blocks, you know, it will be all right.”

I covered Michigan throughout March Madness with a credential at the Big Ten tournament, Sweet 16, Final Four, and national championship game. Mara was generous and thoughtful in his media availability the entire time, speaking to reporters for long stretches in his second language. He told me getting better at English was one of his top priorities when he came to the U.S. upon committing to UCLA, and he showed how much he’s grown in that area too throughout March Madness.

At one point, I asked Mara why he thought Michigan’s three big look worked so well together.

“We are not selfish,” he said. “We play for each other. If I see Morez inside the paint, I’m going to stay out. So it’s not like I want to get here, and if Morez is here, I’m gonna get here anyways. We’re trying to do, I don’t know, different things, like move the ball.

“Today it was me. Maybe tomorrow it is going to be Morez, and the next day it’s going to be someone else. I think that’s what make us play so well together.”

As the NBA moves to more double-big looks, Mara’s ability to play with other bigs will be an essential part of his appeal. Even without a proven jump shot, he knows how to space the floor by leveraging his size and skills to help out his teammates. He doesn’t care about getting the glory.

Size is in at every level of basketball. Length is one of the most essential traits in the sport. Almost no one alive is longer than Mara, and he also brings unique skills and a positive attitude to every game.

A year ago, Mara felt like one of the most underwhelming players in America as he sat glued to Mick Cronin’s bench. Dusty May believed in him and brought out the best in his abilities. His incredible March Madness run showed the NBA he deserves lottery consideration. Given his rapid development throughout the season, it feels like this is only the start as Mara continues to grow into his body and his game.

Aday Mara’s NBA mock draft stock is rising

Here’s the lottery for the NBA mock draft we published after March Madness ended. Mara is already in the top-10. Don’t be surprised if he keeps rising.