Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer is honing in on the 2026 recruiting class, with several in-home and official visits having either been scheduled or happened already. Now, this latest recruiting news on 5-star guard Deron Rippey Jr. could signal that the Blue Devils are the favorites to land the elite prospect, as Rippey has cancelled his official visit to Alabama. Rippey was set to land in Tuscaloosa for a visit this weekend, but is no longer doing so. Recently, the guard cut his list of potential schools down to 10, but this cancellation could mean it's down to nine. It's unclear whether Rippey will reschedule the visit or not.
Deron Rippey Jr. cancels visit to Alabama, Duke could be the favorite after recent in-home visit
Earlier this month, Rippey cut his list to 10 schools: Duke, Louisville, North Carolina, Miami, Syracuse, Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Texas, and NC State. The Blair Academy (NJ) product left several ACC programs in contention for his services, and now the Crimson Tide might be cut.
5⭐️ Deron Rippey Jr. is no longer taking an official visit to Alabama this weekend, source told @Rivals.
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) September 10, 2025
It’s TBD whether or not it’ll be rescheduled. https://t.co/dWt7i4iECn pic.twitter.com/cRCdCBpiX1
Rippey is the No. 11 overall player, No. 1 point guard, and No. 1 player out of the state of New Jersey according to the 247Sports 2026 Composite Rankings.
Scheyer completed an in-home visit with the top prospect on September 3rd. He has an official visit scheduled to Duke for October 21st to 23rd.
Although this recent cancellation could mean Duke is in pole position with Scheyer completing an in-home visit, Rippey's words towards UNC might hint at the prospect favoring the Tar Heels.
“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 an 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.”
With seemingly nine schools still in the running for the 5-star guard, Rippey's official visit to Duke in late October could be the biggest one yet for Scheyer in terms of the 2026 recruiting class.