Class of 2026 five-star prospect Deron Rippey Jr. has cut his list of potential schools down to 12, and the Duke basketball program has made it on there. Rippey includes Duke in the list along with North Carolina, Kentucky, Alabama, Miami, Syracuse, Texas, Louisville, Kansas, NC State, Indiana, and Tennessee.
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
This isn't the only top prospect who's considering UNC and NC State along with the Blue Devils, as five-star forward Miikka Muurinen also has the three North Carolina schools in his final seven.
However, the Tar Heels have a big advantage in the recruitment of Muurinen, as the Finnish big man's mother played basketball at UNC for two seasons. It's a different story with Rippey, although he did note that UNC was his "dream school" when discussing the programs involved in his recruitment.
“They’ve [UNC] 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," Rippey told On3's Jamie Shaw in a recent interview. "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. One thing about Hubert Davis, he definitely plays his young guys. You know, looking at , , they’ve definitely been playing since the start of their careers at UNC, so that’s really important.”
The Blair Academy (NJ) product is the No. 17 overall player, No. 2 point guard, and No. 1 player out of the state of New Jersey per the 247Sports 2026 Composite Rankings. Rippey had tallied over 40 offers before cutting his list to 12.
Per On3's Joe Tipton, Rippey has scheduled official visits to Kentucky, Miami, North Carolina, Alabama, Texas, Syracuse, Indiana, Tennessee, and Kansas. Official visits to both Duke and NC State are still to be determined, but will be happening in the future.
As it stands now, it looks like UNC is ahead of Duke in the recruitment of both Muurinen and Rippey. Neither recruit has scheduled an official visit to Durham, although both are expected to do so in the future.
Jon Scheyer and his staff are still searching for their first commitment in the class of 2026.