Maryland men’s basketball secured one of the biggest recruits in program history when five-star center Derik Queen announced his commitment to the Terps. Queen told ESPN the news Wednesday.

The Baltimore native picked Maryland over Indiana, Kansas and Houston — the other schools in his top four. The Terps were the first school to give Queen, the No. 12 player in the 2024 class, per 247Sports’ recruiting rankings, an offer in 2020 and were his last official visit on Oct. 20.

Despite his commitment dragging on well into the new year, Maryland secured its second recruit of its class of 2024 — one which relied almost solely on Queen’s decision.

Queen ranks as the Terps’ second-best recruit since 2000, per 247Sports, only behind Diamond Stone and just ahead of current Indiana Pacers big Jalen Smith.

The 6-foot-10 five-star recruit will team up with current Maryland players and former St. Frances Academy teammates Julian Reese and Jahnathan Lamothe. Queen transferred from St. Frances Academy to Florida prep basketball powerhouse Montverde Academy in 2021 and recently visited Maryland during its win over Coppin State in December.

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The Terps previously missed out on 2024 four-stars Boogie Fland and Jaeden Mustaf, but Queen’s commitment largely satisfies the Terps’ needs for the incoming freshman class and continues coach Kevin Willard’s trend of securing highly-rated local recruits.

“For [Willard] to attack that and be aggressive recruiting around here is a great thing,” Reese said on Nov. 2, before Queen’s commitment. “It’ll influence little kids from around here, more talent from around here to not be shy and be open to coming to Maryland like Derik, guys like DeShawn [Harris-Smith], Jamie [Kaiser] — the commits we got this year.”

Queen fills the second of two scholarship spots the Terps will have available next season after fifth-year seniors Jahmir Young and Donta Scott exhaust their eligibility, excluding any future transfers out of the program. Four-star guard Malachi Palmer became the Terps’ first commit of the class on New Year’s Day.

With limited space, the quality of Maryland’s incoming class largely hinged on Queen’s commitment. Maryland secured that and snagged another top local recruit with his signature.