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2026 4-star guard Deron Rippey Jr sets Indiana official visit

headshotby: Alec Lasley07/11/25allasley
Deron Rippey Jr. - Zack Geoghegan, Kentucky Sports Radio
Deron Rippey Jr. - Zack Geoghegan, Kentucky Sports Radio

Indiana’s relationship with 2026 top-20 guard Deron Rippey Jr is taking the next step as he officially set his visit date with the hoosiers.

Rippey will be on campus from October 17-19, his dad tells TheHoosier.com.

The weekend of October 17 is also homecoming weekend in Bloomington. Indiana will do battle with Michigan State on the gridiron on that Saturday, with Hoosier Hysteria — whatever the event looks like this year — likely to take place that weekend as well.

Indiana is one of multiple schools getting a visit from the four-star guard. He is scheduled to visit Kentucky, North Carolina, Alabama, Texas in that order, and is finalizing dates for Tennessee, Miami and Syracuse as well.

This visit comes on the heels of increased interest and prioritization from the Indiana basketball staff.

On Thursday, head coach Darian DeVries and assistant coach Kenny Johnson watched Rippey during the first day of the first July live period. He had 19 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists on Thursday morning.

Rippey and his AAU program New Heights went head-to-head against fellow top-20 point guard Tay Kinney and Wildcat Select on Wednesday night — a standout performance and one of the best finishes to a game so far this week. It was a game of runs late, including Wildcat Select making a huge run to cut a double-digit deficit to a lead under a minute left.

Trending (On3+): 5 Indiana basketball recruitments in 2026 to track to finish the summer

Rippey then knocked down a pull-up three with three seconds left to send the game into overtime. He would tie the game later in OT under a minute left and then seal the game with the game-winning steal leading to a dunk at the other end.

On the night, Rippey finished with 22 points and 11 assists.

“Deron Rippey is one of the more athletic guards in this recruiting cycle. Filled with twitch, he gets downhill toward the rim with regularity,” On3 National Basketball Recruiting Analyst Jamie Shaw said about his performance on Wednesday. “He struggled early with his pace, reacting to a collapsed defense. As the game went on, Rippey starting to make the plays with two feet in the paint.

“Rippey is a confident lead guard. He plays with an obvious competitive fire. There is little dancing with the ball as he makes his move and gets toward the rim with a purpose. The junk shot continues to be an area of attention for him, but he continues to make positive plays for his team which oftentimes turns into wins.”

For the season on the 3SSB circuit, Rippey is averaging 16.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.0 assists (third in the league) and is shooting 37.9 percent from three (22-of-58).

Most of Rippey’s conversations with Indiana have come with both head coach Darian DeVries and assistant coach Kenny Johnson.

“Definitely their style of play (sticks out),” Rippey told TheHoosier.com on Wednesday night. “Letting their guards play fast and with freedom since they were at WVU.”

While a decision is still a ways away, he’s eyeing a timeline ‘before the new year’. He’ll be looking at ‘impact, style of play and chance at winning a national championship’ when he narrows down his choice.

Rippey is ranked the No. 17 player in the On3 Industry Rankings and the No. 4 overall point guard.

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