Five-star center Derik Queen has committed to Maryland, he announced Monday. The pledge gives the program its second-highest-ranked recruit in the 247Sports era. The No. 12 overall player in the 2024 recruiting cycle was one of the last uncommitted blue-chip prospects on the board.
The Baltimore native elected to return home to Maryland after playing his high school ball at Montverde Academy in Florida. Queen committed to the Terrapins over Houston, Indiana, Kansas and LSU among others. According to 247Sports, Queen is the No. 3-ranked center in his recruiting class behind Kentucky signee Jayden Quaintance and Kansas signee Flory Bidunga.
Here is what 247Sports director of scouting Adam Finkelstein had to say about Queen:
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.
The two-man class led by Queen jumped nearly 40 spots to No. 38 overall in 247Sports team recruiting rankings. .
