For Syracuse basketball 5-star targets from Baltimore, a brutal slate ahead

A pair of Syracuse basketball five-star targets, each of whom hails from Baltimore, suits up for arguably the best prep-school squad nationwide over the past few years.

And the Orange prospects, 2023 five-star forward Kwame Evans Jr. and 2024 five-star power forward Derik Queen, will face an immensely challenging schedule during the 2021-22 stanza.

Earlier this year, the 6-foot-8 Queen and the 6-foot-9 Evans each transferred to the powerhouse Montverde Academy out of Montverde, Fla. The ‘Cuse coaching staff offered scholarships to Evans and Queen in October, according to media reports.

Queen, a consensus top-five prospect in his class, previously played for Saint Frances Academy in Baltimore. Evans, viewed by some recruiting services as the No. 2 player across the country in his cycle, most recently competed for the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute.

Let’s examine the 2021-22 calendar for two Syracuse basketball five-star targets.

This past season, the Montverde Academy captured its fifth GEICO Nationals championship, defeating Sunrise Christian Academy from Bel Aire, Kan., in the title game.

Ahead of the 2021-22 campaign, the loaded Montverde Academy roster is ranked No. 2 in a pre-season top-20 poll of the premier independent teams, including prep-school groups, published by MaxPreps.

The Montverde Academy is part of the National Interscholastic Basketball Conference, a super league of sorts whose other participants include the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., the Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., the Sunrise Christian Academy, the La Lumiere School in La Porte, Ind., the Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant, Utah, and the Legacy Early College in Greenville, S.C.

Jordan Divens, the national basketball editor for MaxPreps, recently detailed Montverde Academy’s 2021-22 docket, and we’re going to take a look at some of the team’s key match-ups.

The Montverde Academy will duel with several of the top public high schools around the country, including Wheeler High School in Marietta, Ga., and Camden High School in Camden, N.J.

One of the stars for Camden High School is 2023 five-star point guard D.J. Wagner, who also holds an Orange offer and is the consensus No. 1 junior. Recruiting juggernaut Kentucky, by the way, is in hot pursuit of both Wagner and Evans.

In December, the Montverde Academy will take on the highly rated Wasatch Academy as part of the Hoophall West event. A member of the Wasatch Academy line-up is Syracuse basketball 2022 commit Chris Bunch, a four-star wing who in October picked the ‘Cuse over other finalists Rutgers and Washington.

The Montverde Academy will also have a couple of games against the Sunrise Christian Academy, the IMG Academy and the La Lumiere School, each of which is a pre-season top-10 squad, according to MaxPreps.

Former Orange 2022 five-star target Jarace Walker, who has committed to Houston, headlines the IMG Academy. The same goes for former Syracuse basketball 2022 four-star prospect and Central New York native J.J. Starling, who has committed to Notre Dame and plays for the La Lumiere School.