The praise continues to pour in for Maryland men’s basketball freshman Derik Queen after ESPN ranked tabbed him as the fourth-best freshman in the country this week.
ESPN: A skilled 6-foot-10 big man from Baltimore, Queen stayed home for college, and Kevin Willard has to be grateful every day for that decision. Queen is averaging 17.5 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists, also adding more than one steal and one block per game. He opened his career with 22 points and 20 rebounds against Manhattan and has barely slowed down since then. Queen is coming off a 26-point, 12-rebound effort against Purdue, in which he also hit his first two 3s of the campaign.
In just five weeks, Queen has made his presence felt while shooting up the Terps' record book.
He remains inside the top ten in the KenPom Player of the Year standings, joining Cooper Flagg as the lone freshmen on the list, while he's averaging the third-most points (17.5) among freshman in the country and second-most among freshmen in program history. His five 20-point games already mark the second-most while his four double-doubles are tied with Diamond Stone for third-most in program history. After posting 22 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in a comeback win vs. Villanova, Queen also became the first freshman center since Chet Holmgren in 2022 to lead his team in all three categories.
Queen was projected to land ninth overall in the 2025 NBA Draft by ‘No Ceilings’.
An argument could be made that Maryland freshman Derik Queen has been one of the most impressive freshmen in college basketball this year. An incredibly skilled big man, Queen is a monster inside the paint with a high feel for the game. After a strong start to the year, Queen’s game has only gotten more impressive. He’s averaged 20.0 points and 10.2 rebounds in his last five games while shooting 62.3% from the field. Queen’s stock continues to be red hot; if the defensive concerns can be answered moving forward, he’s going to be a name that continues to trend upward. Chicago landing Queen here would be a heck of an addition. Adding his offensive weaponry alongside some of the pieces in place would give the Bulls an offensive force in the paint to develop as they look to build toward the future.
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