Top-20 recruit Deron Rippey Jr. down to 12 schools

After receiving over 40 offers, Deron Rippey Jr. has narrowed his list of schools down to 12. Moving forward, the 6-foot-2 point guard out of Blair Academy (NJ) will consider Alabama, Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Syracuse, Tennessee, and Texas.

Rippey, Rivals’ No. 3 ranked point guard in the 2026 class, has scheduled several official visits — Kentucky (August 1-3), Miami (August 27-29), North Carolina (August 31-September 2), Alabama (September 12-14), Texas (September 19-21), Syracuse (September 26-28), Indiana (October 17-19), Tennessee (October 25-26), and Kansas (November 2-4).

His visits to NC State and Duke are still TBD. Louisville previously hosted him for an official visit last fall.

Prior to cutting his list down, Rippey received offers from schools like Auburn, Virginia, BYU, UCLA, Michigan, Rutgers, Illinois, and others.

Rippey is the nation’s No. 17 overall prospect in the 2026 cycle according to the Rivals Industry Ranking.

Rippey talks handful of programs involved

In a recent interview with Rivals’ Jamie Shaw, Rippey discussed several of the schools recruiting him.

LOUISVILLE: “My relationship has definitely been continuing with them,” Rippey said. “They’ve been very consistent with reaching out to me. They’ve been at most of my games during live period, I see that they’re always around. “The intensity of the gym definitely stood out on my visit. Kentucky’s a state that loves basketball, so being in Louisville, they don’t have a professional sports team. That’s sort of the heart of the state. That’s really their sport.”

ALABAMA: “My relationship with Alabama is great. They came up to my school as soon as the season ended. So they’ve definitely shown amazing interest in me. I love the way they play, and I’ve been talking to Nate Oates. He was at USA Basketball, so I got to catch up with him even more. They play really fast. I think as a point guard, my athleticism and my speed can definitely thrive in a program like that. So I’m definitely showing interest in them, and the way they shoot threes is a lot like the NBA.”

KENTUCKY: “Things are good with Kentucky. I’m about to officially visit them as well. So them just expressing insane interest in me. They told me that they want me to get to campus as soon as possible, so it’s definitely a loving relationship. Coach (Mark) Pope is definitely a very nice, kind person. He loves to chat. He loves to check in on me, so being around a guy like that is always great.”

INDIANA: “They’ve definitely been very consistent with me. I loved the way they played at West Virginia. A lot lot of their staff has reached out to me, and I’m just consistently talking with them throughout the week.”

MIAMI: “Their whole staff has reached out. Jai Lucas is in his first year over there. He’s been following me since Duke. So him being able to still recruit me at Miami, as a head coach, I think is important. He definitely loves my pace and my leadership. He says I can come in, be the next Tre Donaldson that they already have over there.”

UNC: “They’ve been my dream school since growing up, so being able to have an offer from them and a chance to play for them is really big for me. They’ve obviously been a Blue Blood, one of the most historic Blue Bloods since the beginning of college basketball, so I’m definitely gonna pay them a visit and I’m excited. One thing about Hubert Davis, he definitely plays his young guys. You know, looking at Elliot Cadeau, Ian Jackson, they’ve definitely been playing since the start of their careers at UNC, so that’s really important.”