It was a major win for Maryland men’s basketball when it was able to seal the deal with former five-star Derik Queen. The elite talented signed with the Terrapins over plenty of other schools and Queen has helped lead Maryland to a new level. The 17-6 Terrapins are just 3.5 games out of first place in the Big Ten Conference. While getting to first might be a hefty goal this late in the season, Maryland could make a strong argument for a top-five seed in the NCAA Tournament.

But the Terps will need Queen to play well in order to do so. Queen leads Maryland averaging 15 points per game and he’s grabbing 8.3 rebounds per game. With how well he’s playing, Queen was recently nominated for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award for the nation’s top center.

You can read the entire press release below:

Maryland men’s basketball center Derik Queen was one of ten players named to the Kareem Abdul Jabbar Center of the Year Midseason Top 10 list. The award is given annually to the best center in men’s college basketball. Queen is the first Terrapin to be named to the midseason top 10 list since Bruno Fernando in 2019.

Queen leads the Terps with 15.0 points per game and is second on the team in rebounds per game at 8.3. Queen’s 8.3 rebounds per contest is one of the top marks in the Big Ten, ranking sixth in the conference. Queen scored a season-high 27 points against Minnesota on Jan. 13, and has scored 20 or more points in seven games. Queen has finished with double-figure rebounds in eight games this season, and is second on the team with six double-doubles. Last month, Queen was named as one of 25 players on the Wooden Award Top 25 watch list.

Fans can support their favorite players in the remaining rounds by participating in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, starting today on hoophallawards.com. The Fan Vote will count as one committee vote during the finalist selection process. In March, the Top 10 list will be narrowed to just five, and in late March, the five finalists will be presented to Abdul-Jabbar and the Hall of Fame’s selection committees, where the winner will be selected. The Selection Committees for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award are composed of top men’s college basketball personnel, including media members, head coaches, sports information directors, and Hall of Famers.

Previous winners of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award are Zach Edey, Purdue (2023-24), Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky (2022), Luka Garza, Iowa (2020-21), Ethan Happ, Wisconsin (2019), Angel Delgado, Seton Hall (2018), Przemek Karnowski, Gonzaga (2017), Jakob Poeltl, Utah (2016), and Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin (2015).

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