Indiana offers New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year, five-star point guard

The Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball program is the latest team to offer five-star combo guard Deron Rippey Jr, according to his father's social media account on X (formerly Twitter)

Rippey Jr, a 6-foot-2, 175-pound point guard from Blairstown, New Jersey is a rising senior prospects from the 2026 class. He has recently landed offers from Georgia, Crieghton, Tennessee, Miami, Auburn, and Texas Tech in the last few weeks and also holds offers from Alabama, Villanova, Rutgers, UConn, Duke, Kentucku, Louisville, Auburn, Miami, Texas A&M, Purdue, St. John’s, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, North Carolina, Texas and many more elite programs.

He has taken one official, to Louisville that happened last fall, along with a pair of previous unofficial trips to Villanova and Rutgers. He’s scheduled to officially visit Alabama in September and could be heading to Bloomington this summer as well.

Here is what Adam Finkelstein of 247Sports wrote about Rippey earlier this spring:

“Rippey was very solid this weekend, averaging 15 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and over 2 steals per game to lead New Heights to a 3-1 record. He had head coaches from Connecticut, Duke, Louisville, Auburn, Miami, Texas Tech, and Texas watching him, and even walked away with a new offer from the Longhorns before the weekend was over. While Rippey was largely letting the game come to him this weekend, he’s got the athleticism to make momentum changing plays at any given point, both rising up at the rim or turning on the jets. Rippey has always been a two-way guard, who impacts the game as much on the defensive end as he does the offensive end. We also saw evidence of clear improvement with his shooting this weekend, which was once considered a liability, as he connected on 10 of his 23 attempts from downtown. While there were some moments he could have asserted himself more, it was a session that showed largely positive developments.”

According to the 247Sports Composite, Rippey Jr is ranked No. 19 overall in the 2026 recruiting class. He also comes in this season rated as the No. 5 point guard and No. 1 overall prospect from the state of New Jersey.

With Indiana head coach Darian DeVries in attendance, Rippey Jr had an outstanding spring at the NBPA Top 100 camp this past week.

Wrote 247Sports national analyst Eric Bossi from the NBPA Top 100 camp:

"Thanks to his strength, athleticism and toughness, Deron Rippey Jr. is arguably the best two-way point guard in the class of 2026. He gets to the rim and scores on powerful drives and can finish with towering slams in the paint – or even on offensive rebounds – all while being able to set up teammates.

Rippey averaged 21.7 points, 4.3 assists, 4.0 rebounds, and two steals in 25.7 minutes per game at the NBPA camp. He also shot 51.1 percent from the floor, 31.3 percent from three point range.

During the regular season the 2024 New Jersey Gatorade State Player of The Year averaged averaged 16.2 points, 5.3 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game leading Blair Academy to a state championship.

Rippey is a crafty scorer who excels at creating his own shot, in tight spaces and will score regardless of contact. His ball handling, high basketball IQ and speed make him a dream ideal point guard in today's game of basketball. He reminds me a lot of Tyrese Maxey, skill and body wise for the next level.