Kentucky has yet to get their first commit of the 2026 recruiting class, but are in hot pursuit of several top prospects. With official visit season underway, the Wildcats have hosted several, most recently Deron Rippey Jr.

Ranked 11th overall and the top-ranked point guard in the 247Sports Composite, Rippey made his official visit to Lexington this week, the fourth of seven visits. While on campus he received his pitch and toured the campus, but he also go to spend time with Otega Oweh, who attended the same high school, and took in Kentucky’s annual Pro Day.

KY Insider caught up with his father following the visit.

About halfway through the visits, what’s the process been like? I know you all are taking your time, but has it been overwhelming? Are you enjoying it?

No, the process has been good. You know, we’re just trying to feel every school now that we narrowed it down to our top nine. Get on campus, and just let them be able to present. We get to see, visit and talk to some people while we’re there.

You finally got to Lexington, how was the visit? What were the things that you were really looking for?

The visit was awesome. It was great. 
You know, I think Ron Ron, my wife, you know, we expected nothing less. Everything that we wanted to hear, we heard. Just being able to see what Kentucky has been doing the last year and getting to know that campus.

What were the things that you were really looking for?

Just making sure he can come in and have the ball right away. Be able to help lead Kentucky to a conference championship, and then to the final four and to a national championship. That’s the standard at Kentucky, their core value.

What was the best part of the visit?

The best part was just spending time with the coaching staff and allowing them to be able to show us around. Talk with the administration, strength and conditioning, nutrition, academic advisor, AD. Watching pro day and spending time with the players, and watching how the players bond and connect.

What makes this Kentucky coaching staff so relatable?

Just being honest and transparent. They don’t recruit everybody. I’ve built relationships with all those guys in a different capacity, from Coach AB, to even Coach Fox. 
Coach Fox played at my junior college, Garden City, Kansas, and he played at Eastern New Mexico, where we both attended. These guys are transparent and they want to utilize Ron Ron, seeing him as a good fit for what they’re trying to do.

I know the pitch has been come and be a point guard at Kentucky, but how are they pitching being a point guard at Kentucky different from another school?

The pitch, they want to win a national championship. Can you get it done? That’s the thing. Ron Ron has won at Blair Academy, two back-to-back state championships. 
He’s going for his third. He brings that winning pedigree, and, of course, Kentucky is the highest. Playing in a great league on the highest level, then one of the top programs to have contributed to the NCAA.

This staff is very analytically driven. Did they show any analytics, and how so?

Yeah. From the point position, the things that he can create, and the things that he’s able to do. Showed a lot of analytics toward him being a two-way player.

It’s only been one season, what are your impressions of Mark Pope and the culture he’s building at Kentucky?

I think it’s great. I think Kentucky’s back. When you look at Kentucky, everybody is used to them winning, having a lot of success. 
I think he [Pope] won the most top 25 games in his first year as coach. He’s definitely going to play any and everybody. Him being a former player, winning the national championship, expectations, the goals. 
I know they want to be a part of that. So he’s pushing that. He talked so much about winning a championship and getting Kentucky back to Kentucky, right? 
Letting people know, like, hey, this is the place. 

What stood out about the way Kentucky recruits compared to other schools?

The coaching staff was great. Everybody built a relationship with my son. Watching the guys, how they interact on the court and then off the court. After practice, after the pro day, eating together, playing 2K in the locker room. It’s bonding. It’s a great brotherhood, a great brotherhood. As a dad, I loved that.

Otega, a Blair Academy alum, what has he said to guys about Kentucky?

Absolutely. He wants Ron and Ron to come there. He thinks it would be a great opportunity. He speaks highly of Coach Pope and the Kentucky family. Everything that they said was happening. 
he’s been a part of it, and he loves it down there. He also talked about winning a championship. Trying to provide a championship for Kentucky and their friends and for coaching staff. He wants Ron Ron to come there after he leaves and, you know, continue on.

How would you say this visit compared to other schools?

We feel great about it. It’s at the top with a couple of the schools. Taking all these visits, you get to analyze and see and talk with coaching staff, people in the community, the players. You get to be around it, so it’s a different feel. 
The excitement, tradition, you know, the standards is always high. The vision that the coaches have for my son. We were definitely impressed. We feel great about it. 

Your son played on the Adidas circuit. There are NIL opportunities there. How much does Adidas impact the recruitment?

Adidas, they just want Ron Ron to represent wherever he goes to college and be who he is. I think that Adidas is also happy that a kid like that, that’s on the top of the 2026 class, played on their circuit. So they’re not trying to push my son to any Adidas school. We have some schools that are Adidas schools that have great coaches, new coaches, trying to build their program. 
You know, they’re just like Kentucky. They tell Ron Ron to come there, they have the ball of your hands and you’ll be able to build this up. We’re just going through the process, but Adidas nor Nike has really to do with my son’s decision.

There are still visits to be taken, and I know you’ve said there is no timeline yet, but could we see this go into the spring, past the transfer portal to see how rosters shake out?

It all depends on Ron Ron. After we take these visits, we sit down, we reflect. We have a system that my wife and my son to be able to sit down and make some assessments, and then now we’re down to five schools. 
Then those five schools will have a period to continue to recruit. Be able to speak with him. Then we’ll come up with a timeline after we get down the five.

There is a lot of smoke around Tyran Stokes right now. Hypothetically, how would you all feel about playing alongside him at Kentucky?

He would embrace it. These are two players that played against each other since they were seven or eight, two players that are highly competitive. They’ve been competing against each other at USA. Them two being on the same team. 
They have the same goal. The goal is to win a championship, right? And then the goal is to make it to the NBA. 
So, you know two talented players, number ones at their position. They got a good chance to play together, you know, the way that Coach Pope has a great recruit class that he’s trying to recruit.