Maryland men’s basketball freshman star Derik Queen will enter the 2025 NBA draft and forgo his remaining college eligibility, he announced early Saturday morning on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.”

Queen, the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year, is a 6-foot-10 center and projected top-10 pick. The Baltimore native led the Terps with a team-high 16.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game and shot 52.6% from the field this past season.

Queen averaged 18.7 points per game in the NCAA tournament during Maryland’s run to the Sweet 16 last month, including a game-winning buzzer-beater against Colorado State in the second round.

He had 27 points and five rebounds in the Terps’ season-ending loss to top-seeded Florida, which marked not only the end of the “Crab Five” era in College Park but also Kevin Willard’s tenure as head coach. Former Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams was introduced as Willard’s replacement on Wednesday.

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In his “SportsCenter” appearance, Queen thanked Willard and other coaches who’d helped his development. He said he’d fondly remember his banked-in fadeaway against Colorado State, as well as “a lot of off-the-court stuff, like me and my teammates just being around each other all the time, making jokes [in the] locker room. They’re my guys, and I’m just going to miss the moments.”

The NBA draft will be held June 25-26 at Barclays Center in New York. Jalen Smith, another Baltimore native, was Maryland’s most recent first-round pick, selected No. 10 overall in 2020.