Syracuse Basketball: 5-star recruit just misses cut for a U.S. national team

Syracuse basketball five-star recruit Derik Queen from Baltimore was one of 27 players who were recently invited to a training camp in Houston as they vied for one of a dozen spots on the USA Basketball U18 national team roster.

In an indication of his skill-set and talent, the 6-foot-9 power forward/center was the only high-school prospect in the 2024 recruiting class who received an invitation to this training camp.

Queen, offered a scholarship by the Orange coaching staff last fall, was included among the 13 finalists for the 12 spots, according to a tweet from USA Basketball’s junior national teams.

However, when the final roster of a dozen players was recently unveiled, Queen just missed out on being a member of USA Basketball’s U18 national squad.

Regardless, let’s give a huge shout-out to Derik Queen, as making it to the final 13 is pretty darn impressive. By the way, among those on the USA Basketball U18 national team roster are 2023 five-star power forward G.G. Jackson and 2023 four-star forward Ty Rodgers.

Throughout their recruitments, both Jackson and Rodgers picked up offers from the ‘Cuse. Jackson is committed to North Carolina, while Rodgers is headed to Illinois.

Syracuse basketball offered five-star big man Derik Queen this past October.

The USA Basketball U18 national squad is preparing to compete in the 2022 FIBA U18 Americas Championship, which is being held from June 6 to June 12 in Tijuana, Mexico.

For Queen, meanwhile, he has played at a high level this spring in AAU events for the Baltimore-based Team Thrill in the Under Armour Association (“UAA”) league. And grassroots basketball will carry onward through the summer months.

As college coaches are able to make direct contact with 2024 high-school players beginning in mid-June, I’m sure that Queen will see his offer list grow.

Besides the Orange, his other existing offers include from Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Auburn, DePaul, Maryland, Texas, Virginia Tech, Georgetown, LSU, Arizona State and Xavier.

Queen told college basketball insider Adam Zagoria in a recent interview that he doesn’t have any campus visits planned at this time.

A star freshman for the Saint Frances Academy in Baltimore, Queen is now a rising junior at the powerhouse Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla., which in early April won the prestigious 2022 GEICO Nationals.

All of the primary recruiting services rate Queen as a top-10 overall prospect in the 2024 cycle, and he’s also viewed as the No. 1 or No. 2 power forward/center in his class.

"In a recent evaluation, Circuit Scouting northeast regional scouting director Kevin Daniels wrote in part that Queen is a “skilled prospect with strong hands and feel in the post, mid-post, and high post. Capable of facing up defenders and executing off the bounce going downhill. He is aided by his length and shooting touch which extends to the three-point line. His high release is challenging for defenders to block or contest. Underrated interior presence and passing instincts.”"