Syracuse Basketball: 5-star big man dishes on teams recruiting him hard

Baltimore big man Derik Queen, who holds a Syracuse basketball scholarship offer, recently was a stand-out on the AAU circuit as his team won the Under Armour Association championship.

The 6-foot-9 power forward, who is ranked in the top-10 nationally within the rising-junior class according to several recruiting services, is a star for the Baltimore-based Team Thrill in grassroots basketball.

Throughout the Under Armour Association final session held in late July, Queen earned a ton of praise from national analysts and scouts for his performances, and he was excellent in the title contest when Team Thrill defeated the Los Angeles-based West Coast Elite, 51-49, in Bedford Park, Ill.

As a sophomore, Queen played limited minutes on a loaded roster at the powerhouse Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla., which captured the 2022 GEICO Nationals this past spring.

In the upcoming campaign, as a junior, Queen should be one of the leaders of the Montverde Academy, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he’s deemed by experts as a pre-season All-American candidate ahead of the 2022-23 stanza.

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

On the recruiting front, Queen’s offer sheet includes the ‘Cuse, Oklahoma State, Providence, Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Auburn, DePaul, Maryland, Texas, Virginia Tech, Georgetown, LSU, Arizona State and Xavier.

Since college coaches could begin reaching out directly to 2024 prospects in mid-June, the four squads that have recruited Queen the hardest are Arizona, DePaul, Indiana and Maryland, according to a recent article from 247Sports national analyst Brandon Jenkins.

Queen noted in his interview with Jenkins that he plans on taking a visit to Arizona soon. The Wildcats, out of the Pac-12 Conference, were a top team in college basketball this past season.

The 247Sports analyst wrote that Queen’s recruiting process is still in the early stages, and the talented big man continues to determine what he is most looking for in a future collegiate destination.

Since Queen is only a rising junior, and college coaches can communicate with him directly, I would imagine that his list of offers is going to greatly expand to include blue-blood programs and other recruiting heavyweights.

Does the Orange have a shot with Queen? It’s difficult to gauge. In the handful of interviews that I’ve come across in recent months, I haven’t seen Queen mention the ‘Cuse in his recruitment, but Syracuse basketball coaches certainly could be pursuing him behind the scenes.

Lauded by analysts and scouts for his terrific mid-range game, Queen is easily one of the best power forwards/centers in the 2024 cycle. Over time, he’ll have many suitors from which to choose.

We’ll certainly keep a close eye on Queen’s recruiting process as it carries onward.