Consider the dunk pictured at the top of this article as Deron Rippey Jr.’s exclamation point.
The Duke Blue Devils’ freshman phenom was every bit as advertised in Tuesday night’s exhibition against the Tennessee Volunteers, and he put the whole country on notice with a statement performance.
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Every year, Duke brings in new freshmen who are ready to be top-end performers at the college level.
Sometimes, the Blue Devils have so many new faces that it’s a matter not of whether any of them will deliver, but which ones will take charge of the pecking order.
It’s sure looking like Rippey could be at the front of the line this season.
Deron Rippey Jr. Stats vs. Tennessee
The scoreboard itself stands out from Tuesday night.
Yes, it was an exhibition, but the Volunteers are expected to be a solid team this season, and Duke ran them out of the building in a 101-64 win that included 54 points in the first half.
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Rippey was fantastic, putting up 21 points with three assists and three steals. He shot 9-for-12 from the floor, including 3-for-6 from 3-point range.
That was tops on a Blue Devils team that also got 18 from John Blackwell, 15 from Dame Sarr, 13 from Patrick Ngongba II, 11 from Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje and 11 from Sebastian Wilkins.
Duke’s going to win pretty much every game if it can put six guys in double figures.
And if Rippey plays like this, they’ll be incredibly tough to beat.
Deron Rippey Jr. Recruiting
The 6-foot-3 point guard was ranked as the No. 1 PG in the country by 247Sports in the Class of 2026.
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He played at Blair Academy in New Jersey.
247’s Adam Finkelstein wrote this as part of his evaluation of Rippey:
“Rippey is an explosively athletic lead guard who can set the tone on the defensive end of the floor. He pressures the ball, picks up the length of the floor, gets over ball-screens, and is ideal at the point of attack. While there could be times down the road where his lack of size and length could be targeted on that end, that’s strictly theoretical right now. Offensively, Rippey is a dynamic athlete with the ball, both in terms of his burst into the lane and ability to rise up for explosive dunks. That explosiveness allows him to make momentum-changing plays at virtually any point and also consistently pressure the rim. Simultaneously, he’s made significant strides with his shooting. He made 34% of his attempts from behind the arc in 3SSB play, but has shown further progress during his senior season. He has developed very clean mechanics in rhythm and is just starting to make tougher shots with range now.”
Duke knew it was getting a special talent when it brought Rippey aboard, and even before the regular season begins, the young guard is showing how special he can be.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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