Derik Queen, the No. 15 recruit in college basketball, has officially announced where he’ll play next season.
Queen told ESPN that he’s taking his talents to Maryland. At the end of the day, the Baltimore native felt comfortable returning home for college.
“It’s home,” Queen said, via ESPN’s Paul Biancardi. “The fans have always been great.”
Maryland had plenty of competition for Queen’s services. Houston, Indiana, Kansas and several other schools extended offers to the five-star recruit from Montverde Academy.
Queen is joining a recruiting class for Maryland that also features combo guard Malachi Palmer. In theory, he should become a fan favorite as soon as he steps on campus.
Here’s the scouting report on Queen, via 247Sports:
Derik Queen has some of the best hands in high school basketball, and they are the basis for so many of the other ways in which he impacts the game. Initially, he made his mark as a high-volume rebounder. He wasn’t the biggest, longest, or most athletic, but the fact that he could hold on to virtually any ball he could reach allowed him to be a menace both in traffic and outside his area.
He not only makes tough catches with regularity, and makes them on the move as well, but he also has both good touch around the rim and as a ball-handler. As he’s gotten older, he’s evolved into more of a mismatch big, who could use his face-up skills – specifically as a handler and passer – to make plays and facilitate from different spots on the floor. He can play off the elbows, operate in dribble hand-off action, make decisions off short rolls, take the ball off the glass to start the break, and has the potential to play in numerous types of offensive actions.
According to ESPN, Queen is the first five-star recruit to commit to Maryland since Jalen Smith in 2018.
Time will tell if Queen can live up to his potential.