Mike Boynton is wasting no time making his presence felt on the recruiting trail at Michigan, and the latest sign is a big one.
The new Wolverines head coach already has an official visit lined up next Wednesday with five-star 2027 combo guard Chase Lumpkin, according to Joe Tipton of Rivals. Lumpkin, ranked No. 25 overall in the 2027 class, gives Michigan a real foothold in a recruitment that has picked up speed fast.
That kind of move fits Boynton’s track record. At Oklahoma State, he signed five-star Cade Cunningham, the No. 1 overall recruit in his class, and later helped guide the Cowboys to the NCAA Tournament win that came with that group. He also showed off those same recruiting chops during his two seasons as an assistant under Dusty May, helping land players such as Trey McKenney and Brandon McCoy.
Now Boynton is trying to carry that momentum into Ann Arbor. The details of his two-year contract were revealed this week, and there are benchmarks he has to hit to earn a second year. Even so, he’s already working like a coach planning to be around for a while.
Lumpkin, who is from Powder Springs, Georgia, has seen his recruitment explode over the past month. Michigan offered him on June 12, just before Dusty May left for the Dallas Mavericks head coaching job. Since the end of May, he has also picked up offers from Iowa, UCLA, USC, Cincinnati, Arizona State, Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland, Miami, and Providence.
Michigan doesn’t have a commitment yet in the 2027 class, so getting Lumpkin on campus matters. The timing also lines up with the heart of basketball recruiting season, when visits often overlap with football weekends and programs try to make the most of campus traffic.
Boynton hasn’t limited his focus to 2027, either. He has already extended offers in 2028 and 2029, another sign that he’s approaching the job with the long view in mind.
For now, the race for Lumpkin still has Alabama in front in the Rivals Recruiting Prediction Machine, with the Crimson Tide given a 34 percent chance to land him. Michigan sits at 16 percent.
Lumpkin has already visited Alabama three times and Kentucky twice, and Alabama is one of three schools scheduled to host an official visit. Michigan and USC are the others.
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For Michigan, the appeal is bigger than just adding another name to the board. The Wolverines see Nesbitt as the kind of player who could grow into a future anchor on defense, which is why this offer matters even this early in the process. The challenge now is that programs closer to home are working to keep him in Missouri, setting up the kind of recruiting fight that often starts quietly before it becomes a real test of staying power. [Read more 🡒]