Baltimore native Derik Queen headed to New Orleans Pelicans after NBA Draft trade
Baltimore native Derik Queen, who starred as a freshman at the University of Maryland, is headed to the New Orleans Pelicans after he was selected 13th overall in the NBA Draft on Wednesday.
Queen was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks. However, a trade sent him to New Orleans.
The 6-foot-9, 248-pound forward averaged 16.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game and had 15 double-doubles in his only season at Maryland.
Baltimore native's path to the NBA
Queen was born in Baltimore and played a year of high school basketball at Baltimore's St. Frances Academy, with former Maryland teammate Julian Reese.
He averaged 14 points and 8 rebounds per game in his lone season at St. Frances. He scored 56 points in a win over Annapolis Area Christian School.
Queen then transferred to play high school basketball at Montverde Academy in Florida before declaring to play in college at Maryland as a five-star recruit.
He was named a first-team All-Big Ten selection and Big Ten Freshman of the Year after his only season in College Park, Maryland.
Uplifting Baltimore
Queen's buzzer-beater in the NCAA Tournament helped advance the Terps to the Sweet 16 in March.
His last-second shot allowed him a moment to share his love for Baltimore.
After the game, he was asked where he got his confidence from.
"I'm from Baltimore, that's why," Queen responded.
"I just want to put on for Baltimore," he added. "A lot of people don't really make it out of Baltimore, and I just wanted to come here and make a change. And hopefully, I did make a change so Coach Willard can keep getting a lot of local kids."
