Kentucky has offered one of the top point guards in the 2026 class

Mark Pope and the Kentucky staff like what they see from one of the top guards in the class of 2026. On Friday, the staff extended an offer to 2026 top-20 guard Deron Rippey Jr., the five-star announced on his Instagram Story, after watching him over the last few days at the NBPA Top 100 camp, an event that featured a number of the Wildcats' top targets.

Rippey Jr. has been courted by the Kentucky staff since last summer when the Kentucky staff, which was brand new at the time, first reached out and began building a relationship. Nearly a year later, Rippey has received an offer from the staff. A long time coming, but it seems the staff is really liking what they see in the 6-2 guard. Rippey Jr. was even named to the NBPA Top 100 Camp All-Camp team after his impressive showing. He played impressive through his three games in Rock Hill, SC, where he averaged 21.7 points, 4.3 assists, 4 rebounds, as well as 2 steals per game.

As far as his recruitment goes, Rippey is receiving interest from programs such as Alabama, Auburn, North Carolina, Louisville, Indiana, NC State and Virginia, among others. He has taken visits to Louisville (official), Villanova and Rutgers, with one officially set for Alabama on September 13. Other official visits are expected to be lined up soon for the coming months, likely in the fall, as the summer gets hectic for many top recruits with camps and shoe circuits.

The Kentucky staff seemed to like what they saw from Rippey Jr. over the week with ramping up the interest, a top-20 player who surely saw his stock climb even more.