The long-awaited official visit to Maryland for 2024 Montverde Academy (FL) forward Derik Queen is in the books as he and his mother got a chance to take in College Park over the weekend. The visit started on Friday morning as Queen reunited with his mom on her birthday before reconnecting with the full coaching staff. “Maryland was really good, really fun. It was everything,” he told Inside the Black and Gold. “It was good because I get to learn more about the coaches and me being around them, they were teaching more about how they really do things.” After taking in the facilities on Friday, Queen spent time on Saturday throughout campus soaking in the pregame atmosphere ahead of Maryland’s game versus Northwestern. With the staff by his side, Queen’s time on Saturday was also spent with his former high school teammate and current Maryland verbal Jahnathan Lamothe. “It was good because Jahn has been up there a lot of times. He was telling me the ways of the school and stuff.” With assistant Tony Skinn leading Queen’s recruitment, it’s no surprise that the two got plenty of facetime over the weekend. “It was good. Usually on visits, I have a chauffeur but coach Skinn took me everywhere and was talking about his hometown, how he played on the Nigerian team. We just talked about various things.” The versatile 6-foot-9, 230-pound forward has flashed his smooth footwork coupled with his scoring touch both at the rim and from the perimeter. With head coach Kevin Willard, the staff turned on the tape of a former Seton Hall player to show Queen how he’d be used in Maryland’s new style. “They compared me to when coach was at Seton Hall, Sandro . They talked about his 12th grade year about how he was coming off screens and stuff. How they use Sandro was more him coming off screens, let him post up and pick and pop.” Queen reiterated his intention of remaining in the 2024 class while adding Willard didn’t press for a commitment. While Maryland is recruiting Queen as hard as anyone, the top-30 prospect admitted what resonates about his trip. “Their personality and how they’re going to use me.” Maryland marked the second official visit for Queen, who also officially visited Indiana last month. The Terps were the last scheduled official visit for the foreseeable future but Queen has seen two more schools prioritize him. “I think both Maryland and Indiana are doing a good job. Auburn came and visited me like Wednesday or Thursday. And Arizona, too.” Queen is rated a four-star prospect and a 96 overall by On3, sitting as the 26th-best prospect nationally and fifth-best in Florida.
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