Syracuse basketball 5-star recruits take home UAA title, 2nd at Peach Jam

Two Syracuse basketball five-star recruiting targets fared extremely well in grassroots basketball as some of the AAU circuits wrapped up their leagues over the weekend in season-ending tournaments.

Baltimore big man Derik Queen, a 2024 five-star prospect who received a scholarship offer from the Orange coaching staff last October, had a spectacular performance in the Under Armour Association (“UAA”) championship game.

The 6-foot-9 Queen, a rising junior at the powerhouse Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla., tallied 16 points, 10 rebounds, one assist and one steal for the Baltimore-based Team Thrill, which squeaked by the Los Angeles-based West Coast Elite in the UAA final, 51-49, this past Saturday in Bedford Park, Ill.

Queen led the Team Thrill in scoring during the title encounter, and he has proven a stand-out in the Under Armour Association league throughout the spring and summer months.

Another Syracuse basketball five-star recruit took home second place at Peach Jam.

Five-star big man Donnie Freeman picked up a ‘Cuse offer last August, and it was the team’s first offer in the 2024 cycle. He is out of St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C., and suits up for the Washington-based Team Takeover in Nike’s EYBL league.

On Sunday, the EYBL held the championship clash of its annual Peach Jam tournament in North Augusta, S.C. In that game, Team Takeover fell in a heart-breaker, 53-52, to the Overland Park, Kan.-based MoKan Elite.

In this affair, Freeman wasn’t a huge factor, playing 14 minutes while going 0-of-1 from the field and not scoring. He grabbed two boards, dished out one assist and had one steal.

That being said, in recent months the 6-foot-9 power forward has generated numerous solid performances for Team Takeover that, like Queen, earned him high praise from national analysts and scouts.

On the recruiting front, we noted in a piece earlier this month that Freeman said via Twitter he is eying an official visit to Syracuse basketball in the “near future.”

His offer sheet, besides the Orange, includes Texas, Rutgers, Marquette, Bryant, Ole Miss, VCU, Norfolk State, Alabama, Maryland, Georgetown, Virginia Tech, Xavier, George Mason and Old Dominion.

In a recent article from Jacob Polacheck on zagsblog.com, Freeman said that Texas, Maryland, Alabama and Georgetown are among the squads involved in his recruitment, although Freeman has said in other previous interviews that Syracuse basketball coaches are prioritizing him in the 2024 class.

As for Queen, he recently obtained offers from Oklahoma State and Providence. Other earlier offers have arrived for him from groups such as Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Auburn, DePaul, Maryland, Texas, Virginia Tech, Georgetown, LSU, Arizona State and Xavier.

When recently asked by On3 national analyst Joe Tipton which schools are currently recruiting him the hardest, Queen mentioned Maryland, Arizona, Indiana and Seton Hall.