Syracuse Basketball: 4-star Baltimore big man takes a tumble in rankings

Derik Queen, who holds a Syracuse basketball offer, remains one of the best big men in the rising-junior class, although his national rankings have dropped a bit of late, at least according to several of the primary recruiting services.

On3 just updated its 2024 national ratings, and I was a little surprised by where the 6-foot-9 Queen is now situated. Following its refresh, On3 has the Baltimore big man at four stars, No. 36 overall, No. 8 at power forward and No. 6 in Florida, where Queen plays prep-school ball.

I’m the first to always acknowledge that I’m not a recruiting analyst nor a scout. However, as far as I can tell, Queen has performed well in recent months on the AAU circuit, so his No. 36 national ranking from On3 appears somewhat low.

Another recruiting service, Rivals.com, also recently updated its national ratings for this class, and it dropped Queen 14 spots to No. 22 overall.

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

Queen, not too long ago, barely missed the cut when he participated in a training camp to make the USA Basketball U18 national team roster. He was one of 13 finalists for the 12 spots, but Queen didn’t hear his name called when the roster got trimmed to a dozen players.

As a freshman, Queen was an absolute star for the Saint Frances Academy in Baltimore. Most recently, he competed for the powerhouse Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla., which in early April won the prestigious 2022 GEICO Nationals.

Besides the ‘Cuse, Queen’s other offers include from Oklahoma State, Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Auburn, DePaul, Maryland, Texas, Virginia Tech, Georgetown, LSU, Arizona State and Xavier.

On June 15, college coaches could begin directly communicating with 2024 high-school prospects, so I imagine that Queen will see his offer list grow in the near future.

A member of the Baltimore-based Team Thrill in the Under Armour Association league, Queen is praised by experts for his stellar mid-range game.

While On3 and Rivals.com presently aren’t quite as bullish on Queen, ESPN has him as five stars and No. 5 nationally. Over at 247Sports, he is four stars and No. 10 overall.

When I wrote this column, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite rated Queen as five stars and No. 6 nationwide, while the industry-generated On3 Consensus ranked him as four stars and No. 12 overall.

We’ll of course continue to track Queen’s recruiting process moving forward.