Syracuse basketball big-man target short of 5 stars in new national ratings

Recruiting analysts and other experts, for a sizable period of time, have said that Syracuse basketball 2024 five-star target Derik Queen from Baltimore could emerge as a significant contender for the No. 1 overall ranking in his class.

The 6-foot-8 Queen, who landed a scholarship offer from the Orange coaching staff last October, is a top-flight power forward who as a sophomore is attending the powerhouse Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla.

He previously suited up for the Saint Frances Academy in Baltimore, where he was absolutely sensational as a freshman. Queen continues to be viewed by analysts as a top-10 overall player in the 2024 cycle, however, he didn’t quite make the five-star cut in a new set of rankings from 247Sports.

In its initial national rankings of the top-80 prospects for the 2024 class, 247Sports only placed the top-eight players as five stars. Queen, meanwhile, checked in as four stars, No. 10 nationwide, No. 2 at center and No. 1 in the state of Florida. He is generally regarded as a power forward, although some recruiting Web sites deem Queen a center.

Syracuse basketball got into the recruiting fray for five-star Derik Queen last fall.

Besides the ‘Cuse, Queen holds offers from high-major groups such as Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Auburn, DePaul, Maryland, Texas, Virginia Tech, Georgetown, LSU and Arizona State. One of his more recent offers came earlier this month from Xavier.

As we noted in a recent column about Queen, media reports suggest that some of the teams he’s hearing from a good amount these days include Texas, Indiana and DePaul.

Queen, touted by experts for his physicality in the paint and exquisite mid-range game, likely has a way to go with his recruiting process, so we’ll keep an eye out for other offers that arrive for him.

I’m not a recruiting analyst, nor am I in Queen’s inner circle, but my sense is that Syracuse basketball doesn’t appear to be a leading contender for Queen, at least not at this juncture.

When ESPN updated its national rankings for the 2024 cycle not too long ago, Queen was No. 3 overall. Rivals.com, in its own recent refresh, had him at No. 8 nationally.

Most importantly, when I penned this column, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite rated Queen as five stars, No. 7 nationwide, No. 1 at center and No. 1 in Florida.

Obviously, myself and other Orange fans out there would be thrilled if Syracuse basketball became a strong contender for the top big man in the 2024 class.