Syracuse Basketball: 4-star point guard, to visit soon, captures prep tourney title

Deron Rippey Jr. from New York City, a 2026 four-star point guard and a top-25 national prospect who plans to take an unofficial visit to Syracuse basketball later this month, helped lead his New Jersey high school program to a prep tournament championship on Sunday.

The 6-foot-2 Rippey, although only a sophomore, has put forth a strong 2023-24 season for the Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J.

Blair, over the past few days, competed in the 2024 Mid-Atlantic Prep League ("MAPL") tournament. The Bucs, in this tourney, were placed as the No. 2 seed. Blair won all three of its game to claim the MAPL tournament crown.

In the quarterfinals last Thursday, the Bucs defeated the No. 7 seed, The Lawrenceville School from Lawrenceville, N.J., by a final count of 88-59.

Syracuse basketball 2026 four-star target Deron Rippey Jr. has won a prep tourney title.

On Saturday in the semifinals, Blair crushed No. 3 seed The Pennington School from Pennington, N.J., by a final score of 88-48. In that victory, Rippey finished with 10 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals, per a post on X from his dad, Deron Rippey Sr.

The Bucs, on Sunday afternoon, matched up with the No. 1 seed, The Hill School from Pottstown, Pa., in the MAPL tournament final contest, which was held at The Hun School of Princeton in Princeton, N.J.

According to a post on X from the account ELITE High School Scouting, Blair defeated Hill, 49-33. This social media post stated that it was the sixth straight MAPL title for the Bucs. Deron Rippey Jr. and teammate LJ Saunders, a 2025 combo guard, "flashed on the perimeter" in Blair's tournament championship triumph, ELITE High School Scouting says.

A huge congratulations to the Bucs on becoming the 2024 MAPL champs. We should note that, on Sunday, the Blair girls' team also captured this season's MAPL tournament title.

Rippey, who is from Brooklyn, N.Y., received a scholarship offer from the Orange in late August of last year. His offer sheet also includes schools such as Old Dominion, Oklahoma State, St. John’s, Fordham, Hofstra, TCU, Long Island University, Binghamton, Mike Hopkins-led Washington, Texas A&M and George Washington.

Additionally, college squads such as North Carolina, Kentucky, UConn, Kansas, Arkansas, LSU, Villanova, Seton Hall and Rutgers are reportedly showing an interest in Rippey.

As I first reported in early February, according to his dad, Rippey is planning to take an unofficial visit to the 'Cuse on Saturday, Feb. 24, when Syracuse basketball will host Notre Dame on Jim Boeheim Day. As part of that day, SU Athletics will honor the career of Boeheim, the Hall of Fame long-time head coach of the Orange who retired last March after guiding the program for 47 seasons.

Syracuse basketball assistant coach Allen Griffin is the lead 'Cuse recruiter for Rippey, and Griffin has been in attendance at both a Blair game and one of the team's open gyms in recent months.

During the last AAU season, Rippey was a top performer as he competed for the 15U team of the New York City-based New Heights Lightning in Nike’s EYBL league.

In early October of 2023, Rippey was also deemed by analysts and scouts as a standout at a USA Basketball junior national team minicamp in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Within the sophomore cycle, both industry-generated rating systems, the 247Sports Composite and the On3 Industry Ranking, place Rippey in the top 35 nationally, in the top six at point guard and in the top three out of New Jersey.

Currently, On3 is the most bullish on Rippey, ranking him at No. 24 nationally, No. 4 at point guard and No. 3 in New Jersey.