2026 Draft Lottery Could Feature a Pair of Prospects Who Played for 3 Schools

Even the most avid fans of the NCAA can't deny, college sports look much different now than they did a decade ago.

Conference realignment, the transfer portal and NIL, to name a few, have permanently changed the college sports landscape. While some may argue that NCAA athletics are worse following the changes, athletes across the country are still competing at a high level with millions watching from the stands and on TV.

College basketball is no different.

This season, a pair of athletes who joined their current team over the offseason will have the chance to be some of the top players in the sport, even after making two previous stops.

Bennett Stirtz, a talented point guard at Iowa, and Yaxel Lendeborg, an intriguing big man at Michigan are with the third school of their college careers, and will have the chance to not only win awards in the NCAA this season, but earn a spot in the 2026 NBA Draft lottery.

Stirtz started his career at Northwest Missouri State, a Division II program in Maryville, where he starred for two seasons. In his first year of college basketball, the former Bearcats' star earned MIAA Freshman of the Year and second-team all-conference honors.

Stirtz earned Second-Team All-MIAA recognition again as a sophomore.

After NW Missouri head coach Ben McCollum was hired by Drake following Darian Devries' departure to West Virginia, Stirtz transferred to Des Moines and spent the 2024-25 season with the Bulldogs.

As a junior, Stirtz averaged 19.2 points, 5.7 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game while shooting 49.8% from the field and 39.5% from beyond the arc. Stirtz helped the Bulldogs go 31-4 and earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament, where Drake fell to Texas Tech in the second round.

After a successful year with the Bulldogs, Iowa tapped McCollum to be the Hawkeyes new head coach, and the Stirtz once again transferred to join his head coach. If Stirtz turns in a similar performance in the Big 10 this season, he will almost certainly be a lottery pick.

Similarly, a solid campaign in the Big 10 should help Lendeborg boost his draft stock after the big man spent the past two years at UAB. In Birmingham, Lendeborg won American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year twice before testing the NBA Draft in 2025, but ultimately electing to return to the NCAA and enter the transfer portal.

Lendeborg averaged 17.7 points, 11.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 52.2% from the field and 35.7% from 3-point range in 2024-25. At the NBA Combine, the Pennsauken, N.J., product measured 6-foot-8 and half an inch without shoes, weighing 234 pounds and recording a 7-foot-4 wingspan.

Following his time at UAB, Lendeborg transferred to Michigan where he will play under the tuteladge of Dusty May. Prior to joining the Blazers, Lendeborg started his college career at Arizona Western College.

Stirtz and Lendeborg aren't the first players to climb draft boards after playing at three schools, as Dalton Knecht spent time at Northeastern Junior College and Northern Colorado before finishing his career at Tennessee and being selected in the top 20 of the 2024 NBA Draft.

Even in the 2026 class, players like Indiana's Tucker Devries, son of Darian Devries, and NC State's Darrion Williams are also at their third school and have the potential to be second-round picks.