Few high school programs pump out talent like Montverde Academy in Florida does. Their former players are thriving to begin their college careers — Cooper Flagg at Duke, Asa Newell at Georgia, Liam McNeeley at UConn and more. The same is true for Maryland's big man Derik Queen, who dominated the beginning of his season.

Now that we have a much larger sample size of Maryland’s freshman big man, Derik Queen, following his historic season opener, it is clear how several aspects of

Derik Queen scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half, including the game-winning free throws, to lead Maryland over Villanova.

Queen’s two free throws with 19 seconds to play were the decisive points in a 76-75 win in the Empire Classic. The Terps, who were playing away from College Park for the first time, trailed by 13 early in the second half before the 6-foot-10 center took over; he finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

Maryland men’s basketball’s Derik Queen was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week, it was announced Monday. Queen is the first Terp to earn the award since Jalen Smith in 2018-19. Led by Queen, Maryland went 2-0 last week with a 108-37 win over Canisius and a 76-75 win over Villanova in the Saatva Empire Classic.

When Maryland men’s basketball lost to Villanova, 57-40, in November 2023, Eric Dixon mixed seven points and eight rebounds with four turnovers against the Terps. At Sunday afternoon’s Saatva Empire Classic in Newark,