Blue Devil Country

Duke Lines Up Official Visit For Five-Star PG

Duke is continuing to do everything in their power to land this five-star point guard.
Jordon Lawrenz|
Apr 4, 2025; San Antonio, TX, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer watches as forward Cooper Flagg (not pictured) speaks after winning the the Associated Press Player of the Year award at Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
Apr 4, 2025; San Antonio, TX, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer watches as forward Cooper Flagg (not pictured) speaks after winning the the Associated Press Player of the Year award at Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

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Duke Blue Devils

The No. 18 player in SportsCenter's NEXT 100 rankings has a visit lined up to Duke. The Blue Devils are set to host Deron Rippey Jr. from Oct 21-23, just two weeks after he visited Kentucky.

With plenty of teams in hot pursuit of the No. 1 player in New Jersey, Rippey has numerous visits lined up past Duke. His trip to Durham follows up on an in-home visit that HC Jon Scheyer had back in Sept.

In fact, Scheyer wasn't the only person for the home visit. Duke's head coach brought GM Rachel Baker and assistant Tyler Thornton along with him. Knowing how tight a battle this is going to be, the Blue Devils are pulling out all the stops.

According to 247Sports, St. John's was the first team to throw an offer his way. While the Red Storm didn't make his Top 12, St. John's has been there since January 27, 2023. It took two years for Duke to extend an offer.

After doing so on June 18, 2025, things began to heat up at a rapid rate. On July 15, 2025, Rippey narrowed things down to his Top 12.

The Teams in Contention

As it stands, the following teams are in contention: Alabama, Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Syracuse, Tennessee, and Texas.

Mar 29, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; General view of basketballs and the NCAA logo before the game between the Duke Blue Devils and Gonzaga Bulldogs in the finals of the south regional of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Rippey began setting up official visits after naming his Top 12. He began with Miami, then headed to UNC a few days later. Duke and Kentucky partook in coach visits before he officially visited Texas, Syracuse, and Kentucky.

In the coming weeks, Rippey is set to go on official visits to Duke, Tennessee, and NC State. Rippey will head to Tennessee just two days after he visits with the Blue Devils. From there, he has roughly a week and a half in-between his visits with the Volunteers and Wolfpack.

Rippey has been called a "silky-skilled guard" as he took home a pair of MVPs, awards, and titles at the USA Mini Camp this past summer. Rippey has a laundry list of accolades listed on his social media, including: 2025 New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year, 2025 Curry Camp MVP, June 2025 Adidas Euro Camp Champions in Italy, First Team All Adidas Euro Camp, Top Underclassman of 2024 John Lucas Camp, among many others.

Oct 4, 2024; Durham, NC, USA; Duke Blue Devils center court logo before the Countdown to Craziness at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images | Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

Duke has their visit with the 6'2'' 175-pound point guard on the horizon, but Scheyer and company know it's going to be no easy task to land one of the best players in the Class of 2026.

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Jordon Lawrenz
JORDON LAWRENZ

Jordon Lawrenz serves as the Eastern United States College Recruiting beat writer On SI. Jordon is an accomplished writer covering the NFL, MLB, and college football/basketball. He has contributed to PFSN’s and Heavy’s NFL coverage. Having graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay with a Sports Communication and Journalism degree, Jordon fully embraced the sports writing lifestyle upon his relocation to Florida.