Deaysean Rippy is really looking forward to taking full advantage of the recruiting process.
The McKees Rocks, Pa., Sto Rox linebacker has gotten a lot of early attention from a handful of top schools, but growing up in Pennsylvania, he’s ready to get out of the comforts of the Northeast and check out what other places are all about.
“If you have offers from everywhere, in my opinion, why not explore the world?” Rippy said.
Living near the University of Pittsburgh, Rippy has spent plenty of time the Panthers’ campus. While he’s always liked Pitt, there’s a part of him that would like to get away from the bright lights and glamour of the big city. Rippy said he wants to be somewhere that has the feel of a real college town.
“When I look into a college I look into it academically and also a college lifestyle,” Rippy said.
It shouldn’t be a problem for the 6-foot-2, 201-pounder to find what he’s looking for. He certainly has plenty of options after grabbing double-digit verbal offers from schools before the month of January.
Major programs, like Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Florida, LSU, Alabama and USC, have all reached out to him. While it’s still relatively early, Rippy currently has Ohio State, Florida and Pitt in his top three.
Ohio State was one of the first schools to contact Rippy he’s looking forward to getting up to Columbus in the near future.
But Florida has been there since the beginning as well.
Rippy visited Florida last summer during camp season and came away very impressed with Gainesville and the “family-oriented” feeling he got from the players and coaches.
Of course, that was Florida’s previous staff. Now that Will Muschamp and his new crew are in town, Rippy said he’s still interested in the Gators but will need to get back to UF for face time with the new staff.
Though Teryl Austin, who was in charge of Rippy’s recruitment, is gone, he’s still knows linebackers coach D.J. Durkin and has been impressed with Muschamp since he was at Texas as the Longhorns’ defensive coordinator.
“They hired him as the head coach, so he must know what he’s doing and he knows what he’s talking about,” Rippy said.
Rippy will have plenty of time to get to know whatever staffs he wants this summer, but come fall, the pressure could mount. Rippy said he plans to enroll early, so he’ll have to take his official visits earlier than some.
Figuring out where he fits best won’t be the easiest thing because he likes all the schools that have contacted him. He could see himself playing just about everywhere, but Rippy is hoping he’ll have a better idea of where he wants to be after getting on a few campuses in the coming months.
“I tell my grandma I wish I could play for them all, but it’s going to come down to that one school,” he said.
Good to hear from you Ed!!!