Syracuse Basketball: 5-star recruit is vying for spot on a U.S. national team

Five-star big man Derik Queen, who hails from Baltimore and received a scholarship offer from Syracuse basketball last fall, will participate in an upcoming training camp for USA Basketball’s U18 national squad.

The 6-foot-9 power forward/center is the only high-school player invited to the training camp who is in the 2024 recruiting class, according to a press release from USA Basketball. The other 26 invitees are members of either the 2021, 2022 or 2023 cycle.

These 27 prospects will be a part of the training camp that will run from May 26 to June 2 in Houston, per the announcement.

Queen and the other invitees are competing for one of a dozen spots on the USA Basketball U18 national team that will suit up from June 6 to June 12 at the 2022 FIBA U18 Americas Championship, which is being held in Tijuana, Mexico.

Wishing Queen nothing but success in this upcoming training camp!

Syracuse basketball offered a scholarship to five-star Derik Queen last October.

Regarding those invited to this prestigious training camp, there are a few names that Orange fans may recognize.

From the 2022 class are four-star point guard Dior Johnson and four-star forward Ty Rodgers. Johnson, at one point, was verbally committed to the ‘Cuse, but he’s headed to Oregon.

Rodgers, meanwhile, held a Syracuse basketball offer but has committed to Illinois. In the 2023 cycle, five-star power forward G.G. Jackson, who had an Orange offer but recently committed to North Carolina, was invited to the training camp.

Getting back to Queen, his recruiting process likely has a way to go, but the sophomore out of the powerhouse Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla., has other offers from groups such as Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Auburn, DePaul, Maryland, Texas, Virginia Tech, Georgetown, LSU, Arizona State and Xavier.

The primary recruiting services all rate Queen as a top-10 player in the 2024 class, with national analysts and scouts deeming him a legit contender for the No. 1 overall ranking in this cycle.

He’s also viewed as either the No. 1 or the No. 2 power forward/center across the country in his class. As a freshman, Queen was fabulous for the Saint Frances Academy in Baltimore before transferring to the Montverde Academy.

In the recent 2021-22 stanza, Queen didn’t log a ton of minutes for the Montverde Academy, as the Eagles boasted a loaded line-up and captured the 2022 GEICO Nationals in early April at the Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Ft. Myers, Fla.

Still, he averaged 6.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per affair, and MaxPreps last month gave Queen an All-America honorable-mention nod within the 2024 class for his play during the 2021-22 stanza.

Queen also earned praise from national recruiting analysts and scouts for his performances last month during NCAA live periods on the AAU circuit. He competes for the Baltimore-based Team Thrill in the Under Armour Association (“UAA”) league.