Maryland Basketball Scoop: Derik Queen's Plans | Will Ja'Kobi Gillespie Return? | Chance Mallory Talk
The latest exclusive Maryland basketball and recruiting scoop from InsideMDSports.
Maryland basketball's weeklong break from games ended tomorrow, when the Terps visit Ohio State in what feels like a 'prove-it' kind of game. The Buckeyes have won three of their past four and they have plenty of motivation to avenge that blowout loss to Maryland early in the season. Kevin Willard's team, meanwhile, needs to prove a two-game sweep on its last trip wasn't a temporary aberration from its road struggles.
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Maryland arrives in Columbus having won four games in a row and six of seven. After sinking toward the bubble during their struggles before the hot streak. they're now the top NCAA Tournament No. 7 seed on average, according to Bracket Matrix. The next six weeks or so could be one of the more exciting stretches for the program in recent years, a much-needed boost after two of its past three seasons were lost early on, the program's first losing records since the early Gary Williams years.
But it's also never too early to look ahead, so let's take a glance at the future by answering a few key questions.
Will Derik Queen be back?
If you've followed our reporting, you know Queen has always been viewed as a longshot to come back for a second season. He's listed in the late teens to mid-20s of the first round of most mock drafts and a near-lock to go in the first round.I'm told Maryland's staff is planning for life without him. If he goes, they'll need to grab two high-level big men from the transfer portal. Kevin Willard aced the portal by adding top guards this season and with Queen likely leaving and Julian Reese out of eligibility barring a miracle, he'll need to do it again next year in the frontcourt.
I did hear this week that Queen's mindset has changed a bit and there might now be a sliver of hope he'll return if his first-round status looks iffy, and the money is right (he's probably worth $1.5-to-2 million on the college level next year). But you should continue to move forward under the assumption he'll be gone, despite limited athleticism and the visible need for improvement on defense and with his jumper.
In the most recent major mock draft, Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman projected him to go 18th to the Houston Rockets. He wrote:
What about the other key pieces?
It would be hard to find many programs that added a guard combo like Ja'Kobi Gillespie and Rodney Rice from the portal. Gillespie has played at an all-conference level and was one of 50 players named to the watch list for the Oscar Robertson Award, given to the nation's top point guard. He's considerately a $1 million-a-year player at this point, at minimum. Rice has answered questions about how good he is after an unplanned sabbatical, making clutch play after clutch play, including that game-winner at Indiana.In this landscape, everyone is a free agent after every season. You can be sure other schools will try (and maybe already are trying to poach) them. I'd expect both to be back, but you never know in this unfettered free-agency era. I'm told Maryland has already begun conversations with them and others about locking in for next season. They won't come cheap. Given their lack of frontcourt players on next year's roster, it'll also be essential to bring back Tafara Gapare. He hasn't proven himself as a full-time player, but he has athleticism, shot blocking and shooting ability you can't teach at 6-9.
Gapare was hoping for a larger role this year, but he could have all the minutes he can handle next season.
What about high school recruiting?
Willard has shifted much of his recruiting focus from high school prospects to the portal, so it's been quiet here. Maryland remains in the hunt for Chance Mallory, the former Virginia commit and the highest-rated uncommitted point guard in the country. Maryland is the hunt. Here's the latest.In 2026 recruiting, the top names on Willard's list remain the same, including Chase Foster (update), Parker Robinson (update), Favour Ibe (scoop).
It doesn't sound like they're chasing hard after Chinese import Sinan Huan, the top 100 7-footer at Georgetown Prep. A source said Penn State is recruiting him the hardest.
