Derik Queen is set to officially visit Indiana in a couple of weeks. The Hoosiers are definitely one of the main players for Queen and have a couple of his former Montverde teammates, Jalen Hood-Schifino and Malik Reneau, currently on the team as freshmen. I expect the Terps to get one of Queen's official visits, likely after Indiana, as Willard & Co. continue to try and get him to reclass up to 2023. It is also worth noting that he will be visiting with current Montverde five-star teammate Liam McNeely. Now I want to go on record, despite all of these Montverde guys being there on his visit, I don't think it will play much of a factor. Despite playing down in Florida right now, he's still a Baltimore kid who runs with a Baltimore Under Armour AAU team. His family is also very interested in the idea of him playing his college ball close to home, whether in the 2023 or 2024 class. Speaking of which, a decision on that should come fairly soon, likely before the season starts. But I will just add this, where I probably would have written off a local kid playing down at Montverde in the past, it is worth remembering, Terps big man assistant Grant Billmeier goes way back with Kevin Boyle, the head coach at Montverde. He both played for Boyle and worked as an assistant under him while he was still in New Jersey. Again, these relationships that the Maryland assistants bring with them are HUGE for recruitments like this one.
Finally, an update on where things stand presently with top point guard target Elmarko Jackson. As I had mentioned previously, the Terps were going to keep recruiting Jackson even with the addition of Harris-Smith to the class and he was open to the idea of playing with the guards the Terps currently have committed. That said, with Harris-Smith saying publicly that he's basically been promised starting PG minutes for the Terps next year, Jackson is going to be an extremely tough get. As of now, Elmarko has two official visits set up. He will be taking an official visit to Miami this weekend, where he has also taken an unofficial visit. Miami is among the schools that have been in a good spot from the get go with former WER1 star Isaiah Wong playing there and with their NIL opportunities. The other school making a major push with Jackson is Kansas. The Jayhawks will get him on campus for an official visit the same weekend Queen will be at Indiana (Sept. 23). The Jayhawks are involved with a number of elite point guards, which could help the other schools seriously in the mix for his services, but again, Bill Self really likes Jackson and could make a push on the official visit. It is worth remembering that Maryland got his first official visit and the Terps could get another senior year official visit. The other schools I expect to be in the mix for the remaining official visits are Villanova, VCU and maybe Virginia, Texas or UCLA. Villanova has quietly positioned themselves well here and VCU isn't getting enough mention as former WER1 star Bones Hyland had a fantastic rookie season in the NBA and their pitch has really resonated. If Maryland were to somehow make the next cut, I'd still feel pretty good about their chances, as this staff has put a ton of time into Elmarko, dating back to their days at Seton Hall. But again, it is looking like it'll be tough at this point due to Harris-Smith saying he expects to start at PG.
Finally, an update on where things stand presently with top point guard target Elmarko Jackson. As I had mentioned previously, the Terps were going to keep recruiting Jackson even with the addition of Harris-Smith to the class and he was open to the idea of playing with the guards the Terps currently have committed. That said, with Harris-Smith saying publicly that he's basically been promised starting PG minutes for the Terps next year, Jackson is going to be an extremely tough get. As of now, Elmarko has two official visits set up. He will be taking an official visit to Miami this weekend, where he has also taken an unofficial visit. Miami is among the schools that have been in a good spot from the get go with former WER1 star Isaiah Wong playing there and with their NIL opportunities. The other school making a major push with Jackson is Kansas. The Jayhawks will get him on campus for an official visit the same weekend Queen will be at Indiana (Sept. 23). The Jayhawks are involved with a number of elite point guards, which could help the other schools seriously in the mix for his services, but again, Bill Self really likes Jackson and could make a push on the official visit. It is worth remembering that Maryland got his first official visit and the Terps could get another senior year official visit. The other schools I expect to be in the mix for the remaining official visits are Villanova, VCU and maybe Virginia, Texas or UCLA. Villanova has quietly positioned themselves well here and VCU isn't getting enough mention as former WER1 star Bones Hyland had a fantastic rookie season in the NBA and their pitch has really resonated. If Maryland were to somehow make the next cut, I'd still feel pretty good about their chances, as this staff has put a ton of time into Elmarko, dating back to their days at Seton Hall. But again, it is looking like it'll be tough at this point due to Harris-Smith saying he expects to start at PG.
