An offseason filled with buzz for freshman Derik Queen continued on Monday after being named among the best big men in the country.
Queen was named the fifth-best big man nationally and the best in the Big Ten, according to college basketball analyst Andy Katz.
It’s lofty praise for Queen, who was ranked behind Hunter Dickinson (Kansas), Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton), Johni Broome (Auburn) and Graham Ike (Gonzaga).
Queen is expected to be a focal point of the Terps’ frontcourt alongside veteran big Julian Reese, while head coach Kevin Willard turned to the portal to restock the backcourt this offseason. Whether it’s justified that Queen is ranked ahead of Julian Reese remains to be seen as Reese is coming off a junior year where he nearly averaged a double-double with 13.7 points and 9.5 rebounds.
Maryland will also turn to Braden Pierce in the rotation after the 7-footer’s redshirt season, while Tafara Gapare and Jordan Geronimo round out the frontcourt depth, but Queen is a big piece in determining just how good Maryland can be in Willard’s third season leading the program.
The big question among the fanbase is how Queen will mesh with veteran big Julian Reese, along with how much the former St. Frances duo will get to play alongside each other. Head coach Kevin Willard said the duo will likely see “12 to 15 minutes a game” together on the floor after noting they “work very well together” through offseason workouts.
“Luckily Derik’s been on campus since June and obviously has been here the whole time. You know what's really what's really been interesting was one we had them on the court at the same time, unfortunately someone's got to guard either one of those. No team has played two bigs. And so the mismatches that we've been able to create, the way they've been able to work high-lows. They've been able to work very well together. Just understanding, they're both very smart basketball players, extremely smart. And so kind of the talking to each other about, I got this mismatch. You have this mismatch. Let's do some roll, replace, get some guys ducking in. They really worked well together and the true part is they're probably not going to be on the court together all that much. Obviously starting the games, big guys get in foul trouble, big guys have to get subs.”
Queen was one of two high school signees in the 2024 class, becoming the highest-rated recruit to sign since Diamond Stone in 2015. Queen was a cog in Montverde’s 33-0 record as he averaged 16.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, earning MaxPreps Second team All-American honors before being named co-MVP of the McDonald’s All-America Game in April.
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