Syracuse Basketball: Brooklyn PG, top-25 player, excited by offer, will visit

Deron Rippey Jr., a fast-rising 2026 point guard from New York City, is “excited, honored and blessed” by his recent scholarship offer from Syracuse basketball, his dad, Deron Rippey Sr., told me in a phone interview.

The 6-foot-1, 170-pound Deron Rippey Jr., who is from Brooklyn, N.Y., was a standout in early July during the annual Peach Jam tournament on the Nike EYBL circuit, as he competed for the 15U squad of the New York City-based New Heights Lightning and tallied a whopping 30 points in one game.

Rippey is a rising sophomore at the Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J. The vast majority of recruiting services have yet to publish their inaugural 2026 national rankings, but several national analysts told me that Rippey projects as a top-25 overall player, if not higher than that.

College coaches can’t initiate direct communication with 2026 prospects until the contact period for this class opens up next June 15, however, Deron Rippey Sr. says he has been communicating with Syracuse basketball assistant coach Allen Griffin.

In recent days, Griffin extended a ‘Cuse scholarship offer to Deron Rippey Jr., who to my knowledge is the third 2026 player to get an Orange offer, along with five-star shooting guard Jordan Smith Jr. out of St. Paul VI Catholic High School in Chantilly, Va., and four-star small forward Maximo Adams with Junipero Serra High School in Gardena, Calif.

Syracuse basketball recently offered 2026 NYC point guard Deron Rippey Jr.

Besides the ‘Cuse, Deron Rippey Sr. says that his son’s offer sheet also includes Oklahoma State, St. John’s, Fordham, Hofstra, TCU, Long Island University, Binghamton, Mike Hopkins-led Washington, Texas A&M and George Washington.

Once school starts back up for Deron Rippey Jr., his dad says that they will work on scheduling an unofficial visit to Syracuse basketball, as well as possibly St. John’s and George Washington.

Deron Rippey Sr. adds that he could envision the Orange coaching staff watching his son during an upcoming open gym at Blair.

The ‘Cuse was to hold its annual Elite Camp this weekend, and Deron Rippey Jr. might have participated in it, but he was committed to the CP3 Rising Stars National Camp in Winston-Salem, N.C., according to his dad.

Since his son started playing basketball, Syracuse is one of the schools that they talk about, given they’re from Brooklyn and numerous former Orange players hail from New York City, Deron Rippey Sr. says.

Deron Rippey Jr. “has a lot of interest” in the ‘Cuse, his dad says, noting the legendary Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim, the current staff led by first-year head coach Adrian Autry, the team’s recent success on the recruiting trail in the 2024 class, the fan base, the Dome and other enticing attributes about SU.

Rippey has a solid offer list so far, but certainly as the contact period opens up, his amount of impressive suitors should greatly expand. It’s encouraging that Griffin and the Syracuse basketball coaching staff are getting involved with Rippey early on in his recruiting process.

In a late July Q&A with Conrad Chow, an analyst at scouting service Pro Insight, Rippey said the Orange was one of his dream schools growing up. When asked which teams he hopes to visit at some point, he said Syracuse basketball, as well as St. John’s, UConn, Duke, Oklahoma State and North Carolina.

Rippey, this past spring, was named one of 18 finalists for the 2023 USA 16U national team after competing at a training camp in Colorado Springs, Colo. At that training camp, Rippey caught the attention of On3 national analyst Jamie Shaw for his quickness and the way he puts pressure on defenders by attacking the paint.