NYC 5-star point guard Deron Rippey Jr. locks in official visit to Syracuse basketball

Deron Rippey Jr., a 2026 5-star point guard and top-20 national prospect, has set an official visit to Syracuse basketball.
Deron Rippey Jr., a 2026 5-star point guard and top-20 national prospect, has set an official visit to Syracuse basketball. | Rich Barnes/GettyImages

Syracuse basketball will host 2026 five-star point guard Deron Rippey Jr. from New York City on an official visit in late September, his dad told me during a phone call on Thursday night.

Deron Rippey Sr. tells me that his son will take an official visit to the Hill from September 26 to September 28, which is awesome news for the Orange's chances to potentially land the 6-foot-2 Deron Rippey Jr., a top-20 national prospect and the country's No. 2 point guard in the 2026 cycle, per the industry-generated 247Sports Composite.

The 'Cuse coaching staff has recruited Rippey hard for a long time. As I first reported, the Orange offered him a scholarship in late August of 2023. In late February of 2024, on Jim Boeheim Day, Rippey took an unofficial visit to Syracuse basketball.

During his upcoming trip to Central New York, Rippey and his dad plan to take in a Syracuse football game, as the 'Cuse will host Duke on Saturday, Sept. 27, at the JMA Wireless Dome.

Syracuse basketball faces steep competition for 2026 five-star point guard Deron Rippey Jr. from Brooklyn, N.Y.

Rippey, an excellent student, is one of the most sought-after and fastest-rising players in the high school senior class. He holds more than 40 scholarship offers from a range of blue-blood programs and other heavyweights in college basketball.

Rippey, who will significantly contend for All-American status in the 2025-26 campaign for the Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J., has been on a tear dating back to his junior year in high school. This spring and summer, he has starred for the 17U team of the New York-based New Heights in the Adidas 3SSB league.

In June, Rippey played at an ultra-high level at the Adidas Eurocamp in Treviso, Italy, the National Basketball Players Association ("NBPA") Top 100 camp in Rock Hill, S.C., and the USA Basketball U19 national team training camp in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The Orange coaching staff has watched Rippey in numerous settings since offering him, including on the AAU circuit, at Blair, at the NBPA Top 100 camp and the USA Basketball U19 national team tryouts, and during a recent scholastic live period at the Mid-Atlantic Independent School team camp in Allentown, Pa.

As I reported earlier on Thursday, this weekend is a live period in grassroots hoops, and 'Cuse coaches will be in for Rippey amid the Adidas 3SSB session in Rock Hill, S.C. Syracuse basketball head coach Adrian Autry and assistant Allen Griffin, who is Rippey's lead recruiter for the Orange, are expected to watch him on Friday, according to Rippey's dad.

Beyond Syracuse basketball, here are some of the other upcoming official visits that Rippey has scheduled:
Kentucky, August 1 to August 3
Miami, August 27 to August 29
North Carolina, August 31 to September 2
Alabama, September 12 to September 14
Texas, September 19 to September 21