Kentucky makes first list cut for 4-star PG Deron Rippey Jr.

Kentucky is making a push for one of the best point guards in high school basketball.

On Tuesday afternoon, On3’s Joe Tipton reported that Deron Rippey Jr. has trimmed his list of top schools down to a dozen. Kentucky made the cut, as did Alabama, Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Louisville, Miami (FL), North Carolina, NC State, Syracuse, Tennessee, and Texas. Rippey has official visits locked in with nine of the 12. KSR was first to report his OV with Kentucky, which is scheduled for August 1-3.

“I love how (Kentucky) continued on the winning program after Coach (John) Calipari left,” Rippey told KSR last week at the adidas 3SSB Championships. “Mark Pope, I think he’s a very high-level coach, he’s a guard’s coach, he’s just an overall savant of the game of basketball. Using that terminology, I think I’m a high-level point guard that can think the game fast, so being able to play for a coach like that will be important for me.”

Rippey, who has seen his stock explode in recent months, is considered a four-star talent and the No. 17 overall recruit in the 2026 cycle by the Rivals Industry Ranking.

NEWS: 2026 Top-20 recruit Deron Rippey Jr. has cut his list to 12 schools, he tells @Rivals.

The 6-2 point guard received over 40 offers. https://t.co/xMChIONQjd pic.twitter.com/mPvtXgjNcR

— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) July 15, 2025

Along with Kentucky, Rippey also plans to officially visit the following schools over the coming months: 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). He took an OV to Louisville last fall but does not yet have visits on the docket with Duke and NC State.

While performing in front of college coaches during the first live period of July, Rippey drew the attention of Pope and other Kentucky assistants last week in Rock Hill, SC. Suiting up for New Heights, the 6-foot-2 point guard was among the top performers in the entire event. He averaged 17 points, 7.2 assists, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per outing in his five games played. UK has been in regular contact with Rippey since the NBPA Top 100 Camp in June.

“I’ve been connected with (Kentucky) for a while now,” Rippey said, adding that he attended the Wildcats’ game against Ohio State in Madison Square Garden during the 2024-25 season.

A decision isn’t expected any time soon — committing around January is his current plan, but there is a long way to go until then. Kentucky will be the first school to get him on campus for an official visit. It’ll be important for the ‘Cats to make a great first impression.

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