5-Star Montverde Teammates McNeeley, Queen Schedule Indiana Visit Together
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – For the second consecutive year, Liam McNeeley and Derik Queen will take official visits to Indiana on the same weekend.
The five-star recruits are both scheduled to visit Bloomington from Sept. 8-10, according to multiple reports.
McNeeley and Queen are teammates at Montverde Academy, a powerhouse basketball prep school in Florida. Jalen Hood-Schifino and Malik Reneau were teammates at Montverde, and Indiana is making a strong push to continue the Montverde-to-Indiana pipeline with McNeeley and Queen. Coach Mike Woodson and his staff are also recruiting Asa Newell and Curtis Givens III from Montverde.
McNeeley and Queen came to Indiana last September, and it's a positive sign that they're using senior year official visits to meet with Woodson and the Hoosiers again. In June, McNeeley announced a top-six list of Oklahoma, Kansas, Indiana, Alabama, Texas and Michigan. Queen has not narrowed his list, but Maryland is seen as one of the top contenders.
Montverde Academy teammates Derik Queen (left) and Liam McNeeley (right) – both five-star recruits in the class of 2024 – on their official visit to Indiana University in September, 2022.
via @liammcneeley30 on Twitter
Queen is widely considered the second-best center in the class of 2024, behind Flory Bidunga, who recently eliminated Indiana from contention and will decide between Kansas, Duke, Michigan and Auburn. A consensus five-star recruit, Queen is ranked No. 6 in the nation by 247 Sports, No. 10 in the ESPN Top 100, No. 19 by Rivals and No. 21 by On3.
Queen is originally from Baltimore, Md., and he plays for Team Thrill on the Under Armour AAU circuit. He was recently named an All-Star at the NBPA Top 100 camp, which provides the nation's top high school talent an opportunity to compete against each other and learn from current and former NBA players and coaches.
At 6-foot-9 and 230 pounds, Queen is an efficient scorer around the rim, and his passing and ball-handling skills have improved significantly in the last year.
Like Queen, McNeeley is among the nation's best at his position. A consensus five-star recruit in the class of 2024, McNeeley is ranked No. 8 in the nation by 247 Sports and Rivals, No. 11 in the ESPN Top 100 and No. 12 by On3.
McNeeley, a 6-foot-7, 205-pound small forward, plays for the Florida Rebels on the Nike EYBL Circuit and, alongside Queen, he competed in the NBPA Top 100 camp this summer. Prior to Montverde, McNeeley attended John Paul II High School in Plano, Texas.
He's considered one of the top high school 3-point shooters in the nation, but also has the size to score inside. McNeeley displays high basketball IQ, seen through his knack for finding open teammates.
Indiana currently does not have any commitments in the class of 2024, so landing one or both of McNeeley and Queen would obviously be a great start.
Coming soon, a film breakdown on Queen and McNeeley from HoosiersNow.com writer Daniel Olinger, revealing why they're two highly-coveted 2024 prospects.
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