Top 20 recruit Deron Rippey Jr. postpones official visit to Kentucky

Heavy rain and flooding in the New York City area have forced a Kentucky recruit to postpone his trip to Lexington.

Deron Rippey Jr., a four-star point guard from the class of 2026, was scheduled to arrive in the Bluegrass State on Friday (his 18th birthday) for his official visit with the Wildcats. However, early Friday morning, his father, Deron Rippey Sr., posted to social media that the trip had been postponed and will be rescheduled for a later date that is still to be determined.

“We Will See Wildcats Family Soon!” Rippey Sr. wrote.

Kentucky is one of 12 schools in contention for Rippey Jr., who is considered the No. 17 overall rising high school senior in the country. UK was scheduled to be his first of several official visits over the coming months, but head coach Mark Pope and his staff will have to wait just a bit longer for his arrival.

GM Everyone- Due To The Weather In NYC, PG Deron Rippey Jr 26’ From Brooklyn, @BlairAcademyMBB @NewHeightsNYC Had To Reschedule Our Official Visit To The University Of Kentucky @KentuckyMBB This Weekend New OV#TBA. Thanks To @KentuckyMBB Staff, We Will See Wildcats Family Soon! pic.twitter.com/aCpz8fKCnJ

— Deron Rippey Sr. (@rippey_deron) August 1, 2025

Rippey has quickly become one of Kentucky’s top targets in the 2026 cycle. After offering him in June, the staff has kept in regular contact with the Blair Academy (NJ) product — the same high school that produced current Kentucky senior Otega Oweh — and was in attendance for several of his games on the adidas 3SSB circuit with New Heights.

“I love how (Kentucky) continued on the winning program after Coach (John) Calipari left,” Rippey recently told KSR. “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 has said previously that a decision could come sometime in the winter. In the meantime, he’ll take as many visits as possible before making up his mind. Below is his current OV schedule. Trips to Louisville and Duke, two schools also in his group of 12 finalists, could also happen down the road.

• 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)
• Kansas (November 2-4)
• NC State (November 7-9)

As for a rescheduled visit with Kentucky, bringing Rippey to campus for the weekend of Oct. 10-12, which will feature Big Blue Madness, seems like a good potential option. Two other UK targets, five-star SG Jordan Smith Jr. and four-star C Josh Irving, will also be in town for official visits that weekend. UK is still searching for its first 2026 commitment.