One of Kentucky’s most prioritized targets in 2026 has rescheduled his visit..
One of Kentucky’s most prioritized targets in the 2026 has officially rescheduled his visit to Lexington. 2026 top 20 point guard Deron Rippey Jr. will now be taking a trip to Lexington from Oct. 3-5, his father told Kentucky Wildcats on SI. His visit was previously scheduled to begin on Aug. 1, but was postponed due to weather.
Rippey Jr. has plenty of other visits on the docket, too, including Miami (Aug. 27-29), North Carolina Aug.1-Sept. 2), Alabama (Sept. 12-14), Texas (Sept. 19-21), Syracuse (Sept. 26-28), Indiana (Oct. 17-19), Tennessee (Oct. 25-26), Kansas (Nov. 1-3) and NC State (Nov. 7-9). Rippey Jr. has taken just one official visit so far, which was to Louisville. The five-star guard’s visit to Kentucky is also the same time as top five prospect Christian Collins, who broke down his Kentucky interest in a recent interview with Kentucky Wildcats on SI. Rippey recently announced his top 12 schools in July,. The list includes Kentucky, Duke, Alabama, Louisville, Indiana, North Carolina, Kansas, Tennessee, Texas, Miami, Syracuse and NC State.
The five-star point guard recently broke down his thoughts on Kentucky and his relationship with the coaching staff in an interview with Rivals’ Joe Tipton. “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 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.”
Rippey Jr. finally earned a Kentucky offer after an impressive showing at the NBPA Top 100 Camp in June, a long time coming. Now, the Wildcats are continuing their hot pursuit for one of the best point guards in the class. The five-star point guard also participated in the USA U19 camp this summer, which was where Mark Pope, among other college coaches, was helping coach.
Here’s a breakdown of Rippey’s game from 247 Sports’ Adam Finkelstein: “Rippey is an explosively athletic lead guard who can set the tone on the defensive end of the floor. He pressures the ball, picks up the length of the floor, gets over ball-screens, and is ideal at the point of attack. Offensively, he’s a dynamic athlete with the ball, both in terms of his burst into the lane and ability to rise-up for explosive dunks. That explosiveness allows him to make momentum changing plays at virtually any point. Simultaneously, he’s made significant strides with his shooting. The bottom line is that his defense and athleticism separate him, and he has the motor to maximize both. He’s also a worker who has cut-up his frame and established a track record of consistently improving his game.”
Kentucky will continue to keep the interest hot with Rippey Jr. continuing to be one of their most priortized targets and will be looking to make a very good impression when he arrives on campus.
