Syracuse basketball vying for 5-star big man, nation’s No. 2 sophomore

In recent months, we’ve noted in several columns how Syracuse basketball was showing interest in 2024 five-star power forward Derik Queen from Baltimore.

Well, that interest has turned into a formal scholarship offer by the Orange coaching staff to the 6-foot-8 Queen, who is a top-five prospect in his class and ranked No. 2 overall according to ESPN.

According to media reports and recruiting services, the ‘Cuse recently offered Queen, who had a monster freshman stanza at the Saint Frances Academy in Baltimore but is now a sophomore at the powerhouse Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla.

It’s truly exciting to see that Syracuse basketball has offered such an elite high-school player, however, Queen’s recruiting process has a long way to go, and many big-time college teams will undoubtedly get into the mix for him.

Syracuse basketball faces intense competition for five-star Derik Queen.

Per media reports and recruiting Web sites, other recent offers that have arrived for Queen include from Alabama, Illinois and Indiana. Earlier offers came in from the likes of Auburn, DePaul, Maryland, Texas, Virginia Tech, Georgetown, LSU and Arizona State.

Additionally, teams such as Florida State and Pittsburgh are reportedly displaying interest in Queen, whose stellar mid-range game has been likened to Orange legend Carmelo Anthony, who led Syracuse basketball to its only NCAA championship in 2003.

In recent stanzas, Montverde Academy has proven perhaps the best prep-school squad across the country, and it is likely to find itself rated No. 1 nationwide in pre-season polls ahead of the upcoming term.

Two newer additions to the Montverde Academy are Queen and another high-school player from Baltimore, 2023 five-star forward Kwame Evans Jr.

While Queen moved to the Montverde Academy from the Saint Frances Academy, the 6-foot-9 Evans previously competed for the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute in Baltimore.

According to recent media reports from college basketball insider Adam Zagoria and others, the ‘Cuse has also offered Evans, who holds a boatload of high-major offers and is a consensus top-five prospect in his cycle.

The Orange’s offer to Queen is the team’s second to a player in the 2024 class. In August, at its annual Elite Camp, the ‘Cuse offered 2024 four-star wing Donnie Freeman.

The 6-foot-9 Freeman, a sophomore at St. John’s College High School in the District of Columbia, is placed at No. 20 nationwide by ESPN.

Also in the 2024 cycle, as we’ve written about recently, Syracuse basketball is reportedly showing interest in 6-foot-2 point guard Curtis Givens III from the Memphis University School in Memphis, Tenn., as well as 6-foot-10 big man Caleb Middleton, who attends the New Hampton School in New Hampton, N.H.