Class of 2026 guard Deron Rippey Jr. has recently narrowed down his top-12 contenders for commitment, and the Kansas Jayhawks appeared to have made the list, according to Joe Tipton of On3.
NEWS: 2026 Top-20 recruit Deron Rippey Jr. has cut his list to 12 schools, he tells @Rivals.
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) July 15, 2025
The 6-2 point guard received over 40 offers. https://t.co/xMChIONQjd pic.twitter.com/mPvtXgjNcR
The 6-2 Rippey is listed as the 17th best player according to Rivals.com in the class of 26. These rankings file him in as the fourth-best point guard in the class and the best prospect coming from New Jersey.
As it stands, there are no committed players to the Jayhawks in this class, and snagging an early pickup like Rippey would be a massive get.
Thanks to Rivals' prediction chart, Syracuse is listed as his No.1 school with a 15.8% chance of taking the talented Rippey,
In an interview with Rivals' Jamie Shaw, Rippey spoke about some of the schools that he is considering, and in his quote about the University of North Carolina, the first exceprt stuck out.
"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."
This doesn't bode well for the fans of the Jayhawks as Rippey seems a big fan of the Tar Heels. If he was to sign too Bill Self's squad he would possibly be joining a roster of six or seven guards depending on future statuses of certain players like No.1 recruit Darryn Peterson.
247Sports director of scouting Adam Finklestein analyzed Rippey in late May, and here is what he came up with.
"Rippey was very solid this weekend, averaging 15 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and over 2 steals per game to lead New Heights to a 3-1 record. He had head coaches from Connecticut, Duke, Louisville, Auburn, Miami, Texas Tech, and Texas watching him, and even walked away with a new offer from the Longhorns before the weekend was over. While Rippey was largely letting the game come to him this weekend, he’s got the athleticism to make momentum changing plays at any given point, both rising up at the rim or turning on the jets. Rippey has always been a two-way guard, who impacts the game as much on the defensive end as he does the offensive end. We also saw evidence of clear improvement with his shooting this weekend, which was once considered a liability, as he connected on 10 of his 23 attempts from downtown. While there were some moments he could have asserted himself more, it was a session that showed largely positive developments."