5-Star Point Guard in 2026 Class Cuts Kansas from List of Finalists

Five-star point guard Deron Rippey Jr. announced on Thursday that he was no longer considering the Kansas Jayhawks, along with the Indiana Hoosiers, as a potential landing spot for next year.

The 2026 guard, currently ranked as the No. 16 prospect in the 2026 class, cut his list to 10 schools: Louisville, North Carolina, Miami, Syracuse, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Duke, North Carolina State, and Texas.

As a junior this past year for Blair Academy in Blairstown, New Jersey, the 6-foot-2 Rippey averaged 16.2 points, 5.3 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game as he led his team to the Prep Open State Tournament championship.

He was named the 2025 Gatorade New Jersey Boys Basketball Player of the Year for his accomplishments during the 2024-25 season.

Rippey was previously scheduled to visit KU later this year on Nov. 2, but canceled after recently receiving a home visit from Kentucky head coach Mark Pope.

The news of Rippey canceling his trip to Lawrence could also likely be a result of Kansas recently being rumored as the co-favorite to land fellow five-star point guard Taylen Kinney after his recent visit to KU in August.

Kinney, a native of Newport, Kentucky, is rated as the No. 1 point guard and No. 13 prospect overall in the 2026 class with offers from some of the best schools in the country. Louisville, led by head coach Pat Kelsey, is currently viewed as KU’s main challenger to land his services.

The 6-foot-1 Kinney had a stellar junior season this past year for Overtime Elite in Atlanta, Georgia, averaging 20.1 points, 5.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game while shooting 55.6% from the field and 33.3% from three-point range.

With those types of numbers, it’s not hard to see why Kansas head coach Bill Self and his staff have put their focus on him. He would be a perfect replacement for this KU team next year with the Jayhawks likely to lose star freshman Darryn Peterson to the 2026 NBA Draft. They’ll also need to replace the talents of graduate transfer point guard Nginyu Ngala and senior guard Melvin Council Jr.

KU currently has no players committed from the 2026 high school recruiting class, but securing a commitment from someone of Kinney’s caliber could be the catalyst to building a strong freshman class heading into next season.