Balimore's Queen Gets GU Love
As a big bodied, 6-foot-9 and 230-pound forward with a funky sling shot jumper and an evolving arsenal of one on one moves, Class of 2024 prospect Derik Queen has become arguably the most prized big man in the country.
The sneaky explosive center is an above rim finisher with a wealth of versatility. His knack for eluding defenders off the dribble and also pulling up from 15-18 feet and consistently sticking jumpers is what renders him such a difficult matchup.
The Baltimore, Md. native was offered by Georgetown and has a number of upper major programs vying for his polished services. Indiana, Alabama, Auburn, Maryland, Texas, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Arizona, and Arizona State are all in hot pursuit of the gargantuan sized prospect with a wide ranging skill set on both sides of the ball.
Discuss Queen and his offer on Premium Court, while also enjoying a look at his game. .
While he's got close ties to the DC area being from Baltimore, Queen's game has continued to be molded in part by one of the country's winningest coaches in Kevin Boyle at Montverde Academy (FL). A high adrenaline coach and entertaining sideline roamer who constantly holds high level recruits to a standard and level of accountability, Boyle's talent laced Montverde won an unparalleled sixth GEICO HS national championship back in March.
Buying into the rigorous workload that comes with the territory of playing for a national heavy hitter which has produced Ben Simmons, D'Angelo Russell, RJ Barrett, Cade Cunningham, Scottie Barnes and several others, Queen has found his niche.He's played primarily as a back to the rim guy who can muscle his way into the paint, power up and score.
As his skill set expands and the game continues to value versatility, his potential is rather sky scraping.
“Derik has a very versatile skill set for his size,” USA Basketball coach Don Showalter explained.“He is one of the youngest players in the U18 training camp and I think he has grown a lot as a basketball player during this camp. I especially like to way he competes on the court every play and obviously loves the game.”