Derik Queen ready to represent Maryland in the 2025 NBA Draft
MARYLAND - Derik Queen, a Baltimore native and Maryland basketball star, is looking to leave his mark in history as one of the youngest prospects in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Remembered for his iconic game-winning shot against Colorado State in the March Madness tournament, Queen embraced the spotlight with his hometown at the forefront of his mind.
"I'm from Baltimore, that's why," Queen said in a post-game interview when asked about his confidence in making the game-winning shot.
Since then, the hometown hero entered the NBA Draft at 20-years-old and is projected to be a first-round pick.
Where did Queen get his start?
What they're saying:
Queen committed to the University of Maryland in February 2024, giving the school their first top-10-rated high school player since 2018.
As a first-year student, Queen averaged 16.5 points per game, leading Maryland to a regional semifinal appearance in the Sweet Sixteen of March Madness.
Queen was also named to the All-Big Ten Conference First Team by coaches, the All-Big Ten Second Team by the media, and was a unanimous selection to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team.
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He is the first Maryland player since 2014-15 to earn All-Big Ten First Team honors. Queen cemented his Maryland legacy with the first-year student single-season scoring record with 594 points, which hadn’t been broken since 1993-94.
Queen’s Upbringing
What we know:
Raised in a single-parent home in the Belair-Edison neighborhood of Northeast Baltimore, Queen always had a basketball in his hand.
In a recent article from the Baltimore Sun, Queen’s mother, Lisa Anderson, spoke about her experience with her son’s basketball journey.
"He dribbled that thing from the living room to the kitchen to the driveway," Anderson said. "I could hear thud, thud even when he wasn’t home."
And that relentless rhythm and thud of the basketball from Queen at a young age means more to the state of Maryland now. When Queen chose to stay home, it showed local kids that their dream could come true in their own backyard.
Now, that same dream echoes all the way from Maryland to the NBA Draft, where Queen is ready to make it a reality.
The Source: Information from the Baltimore Sun, ESPN, and Maryland Athletics was used to write this report.