Syracuse Basketball: PG Deron Rippey Jr. moves to 5 stars, will officially visit SU

Syracuse basketball 2026 target Deron Rippey Jr. has moved to five stars, per the industry-generated 247Sports Composite, and deservingly so.

The 6-foot-2 point guard, who hails from New York City, had a strong sophomore season for his prep-school team in New Jersey. More recently, dating back to the spring, Rippey has earned high praise from national analysts and scouts for his performances on the AAU circuit and at other showcase events.

These days, Rippey is a consensus top-40 national prospect and a top-10 point guard in the rising high school junior class. However, after 247Sports and Rivals.com recently updated their 2026 rankings, Rippey landed as five stars via the 247Sports Composite, as well as No. 23 overall, No. 5 at point guard and No. 1 in New Jersey at the time of this writing.

The Orange staff offered a scholarship to this talented young man, who is also an exceptional student, in late August of 2023. In late February of this year, on Jim Boeheim Day, Rippey took an unofficial visit to the Hill, and he will officially visit the 'Cuse in the future, his dad has told me several times and reiterated to me this past week.

Competition is growing for Syracuse basketball 2026 five-star recruit Deron Rippey Jr.

Rippey, who is from Brooklyn, N.Y., is a standout with the Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J., and the New York City-based New Heights Lightning in Nike’s EYBL league.

In the 2023-24 season, as a sophomore, he won various awards and honors as Blair went 22-4 overall and captured both the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association ("NJSIAA") Prep A state championship and the Mid-Atlantic Prep League ("MAPL") tournament title.

While suiting up for the 16U team of New Heights Lightning during several EYBL spring sessions, Rippey averaged 12.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists per contest.

In mid-June, Rippey was among several Orange recruits in the 2025 and 2026 classes who participated at a training camp in Colorado Springs, Colo., to make the 12-player roster of the 2024 USA Basketball U17 national team.

Rippey was named a finalist for the U17 national squad, with top experts such as On3's Jamie Shaw deeming him one of the top overall performers at this training camp.

Per 247Sports, at this juncture, Rippey has amassed more than 20 offers and garnered interest from a range of heavyweight programs. College coaches could begin initiating direct communication with 2026 prospects on June 15, and since that time, Rippey has heard from a ton of schools, including Syracuse basketball, according to analysts.

Some of his scholarship offers since the contact period for his cycle opened in mid-June have arrived from suitors such as West Virginia, Providence, Maryland, Louisville, LSU and Bryant.

Rippey's full offer sheet also includes Rutgers, Illinois, Old Dominion, Oklahoma State, St. John’s, Fordham, Hofstra, TCU, Long Island University, Washington, Texas A&M, George Washington, Binghamton, Georgia Tech, Villanova and Wake Forest.

Rising juniors can start taking official visits to college campuses on August 1. While nothing has been finalized as of yet, Rippey's dad says that his son will take an official visit at some point to Syracuse basketball, where assistant coach Allen Griffin is the Orange's lead recruiter for Rippey. Stay tuned for that.

Over the weekend, amid an NCAA live period, Blair hosted an event, at which Griffin was in attendance for Rippey, according to various posts on X from analysts and reporters.

Not too long ago, when Rivals.com updated its 2026 ratings, it moved Rippey up eight spots to No. 26 nationwide in his class. In the latest 2026 refresh from 247Sports, he arrived at No. 21 nationally, No. 3 at point guard and No. 1 in New Jersey.

What's more, in a recent post on X, MADE Hoops director of events Jeff Kovner noted that Rippey resides at No. 15 overall in the 2026 national rankings from MADE Hoops.