SEATTLE —Derik Queen is chewing on his mouthguard, giggling.

It is the middle of an intense second-round NCAA Tournament game against 12th-seeded Colorado State. The fourth-seeded Maryland Terrapins are not playing well, and yet the Big Ten freshman of the year is unfazed. There he goes:

Chomp, chomp, chomp.
Giggle, giggle, giggle.

Queen’s stature implies he’s a full-grown man: 6 feet 10 inches, 246 pounds, projected as a lottery pick in this spring’s NBA Draft. Then he giggles again, and his mouth full of braces offers a reminder that, actually, this is a baby-faced 20-year-old still figuring out how to be an adult.

But with the game on the line, Queen morphs again, this time into a veteran, telling Maryland coach Kevin Willard in the huddle, “Give me the motherf—ing ball.”

OK, then.

The Terps inbound to Queen, who takes two dribbles (and maybe a couple of steps) to the left, rises, fades away and kisses the ball off the glass for the game-winner, an improbable 72-71 victory that sends Maryland to its first Sweet 16 in almost a decade. The Terps face No. 1-seed Florida on Thursday in San Francisco.

DERIK QUEEN FTW 😱

OH MY GOODNESS 🤯#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/06QRH6eK3R

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 24, 2025

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Making the sequence even more remarkable: Queen scored on a go-to set Sunday for the Terps, and they actually ran it earlier in the game, also to Queen. He hadn’t scored, called instead for a travel. But this didn’t shake his confidence, hence his demanding the ball late.

When Willard is interviewed postgame, Queen and his giggle — and the chewing on his mouthguard — are back, he’s massaging Willard’s shoulders, draping himself all over the third-year Maryland coach. His joy is obvious and infectious.

There are a handful of players left in the NCAA Tournament more talented than Queen. But there isn’t anyone having more fun. There might not be anyone as funny, either.

After the Terps’ opening-round win over Grand Canyon, Queen sat in the news conference biting his lip. He said later his teammates were cracking jokes under their breath — not the kind suitable for print — because they knew he had no poker face and wouldn’t be able to keep it together.

Between Maryland’s first and second games in Seattle, Willard joked that no one in his household ever listens to him — not his wife, not his kids. But in that crucial last timeout, the players did listen to him, prompting Queen to explain after the buzzer-beater: “First, he do pay us the money, so we do gotta listen to him.”

Media burst into laughter while Willard’s face — and his bald head — turned bright red.

That was a reference to Willard’s insistence, and eventual satisfaction, that Maryland get its name, image and likeness situation in a place to be competitive for Queen, a Baltimore native and one of the top prospects to come out of the Washington D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area in a decade.

Willard desperately wanted to keep Queen home. Or rather, get him back home, after Queen spent three years at Montverde Academy in Florida, where he was teammates with Duke superstar Cooper Flagg, and grew to be the No. 12 prospect in the 2024 class, a consensus five-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American.

When Queen committed, the second-highest rated recruit to ever sign with the Terps, Willard knew he was getting a great player. But he couldn’t have imagined what a fun kid he was getting, too. Queen’s joy — for the game and life in general — oozes out of him.

“He has an infectious personality,” Willard told The Athletic. “He’s never in a bad mood, always smiling. Every time you walk away from him you’re like, that’s the best kid in the world. You just want to give him a hug.

“It’s very rare nowadays, where these kids have this unbelievable pressure, but he’s just always in a good mood, always a great teammate. He’s a generational talent and a generational kid, and you just don’t see that (combo) very often.”

Other top players insist on steely gazes and no smiles. Queen, who said he likes to think he “brings out the happy” in Willard, doesn’t see the point.

“We only get one life,” he said after hitting the game-winner and trying to scroll through the 1,800-plus unread texts on his phone. “I try to go out there and smile every day, be the funny guy, be the joy guy.”

For as much as Queen’s skill is lauded already, he knows he can be even more complete as a player if he gets in better shape. His braces — which he got last summer — help in that regard because every time they’re tightened, his teeth hurt enough that he’s discouraged from eating.

Even about this he has a playful attitude: On “The Pat McAfee Show” Tuesday, he acknowledged that Maryland’s strength and conditioning coach teasingly calls him “Honey Buns” and “Reese’s Cup,” reminders that Queen is not yet a perfect physical specimen.

It’s important to Queen that he provide another version of Baltimore to the general public. His city has been maligned by outsiders for decades for problems with crime and poverty. He knows it’s a place where joy can be hard to find.

“I just want to put out for Baltimore,” he said. “A lot of people don’t really make it out of Baltimore. I wanted to come here and make a change. And hopefully I did, so coach Willard can keep getting a lot of local kids.”

But also, he credits his city for his toughness and cockiness. Asked after the shot that made him a legend in his hometown where he got the confidence to ask for the ball in such a clutch moment — especially considering he’d never hit a game-winner in his entire life — he told TBS sideline reporter Andy Katz matter-of-factly, “I’m from Baltimore.”

Duh.

Derik Queen’s hometown teams show him some love after his buzzer beater to send @TerrapinHoops to the Sweet 16 💥#B1GMBBall pic.twitter.com/rfE08KXQkS

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) March 24, 2025

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He said later that after Willard called the play, “I was getting the shivers. I was like, I gotta make this shot. I can’t let the seniors down. I can’t let the coaches down. I can’t let Maryland down.”

Then, of course, he smiled.

His teammates appreciate how easygoing he is.

“I think we need that. I get so locked into the game, I need to relax a little bit,” Maryland guard Rodney Rice said. “Having him in the locker room, I’m not so tense.”

They’re also a fan of what he brings on the floor. Julian Reese, a fifth-year senior, couldn’t believe from the first open gym how steady Queen was, and how “he’s not going to be sped up by anybody. It doesn’t matter how hard you defend him or how physical you are.” Queen is going to go at his own pace.

That applies to his general productivity, too. Reese has studied how Queen lets the game come to him, refusing to force shots. His efficiency is obvious in the stats: Queen takes fewer than 11 shots per game, makes 52.9 percent of his attempts and averages 16.2 points and 9.1 rebounds. His 15 double-doubles are more than any other freshman this season.

Against Colorado State, he scored 10 of Maryland’s first 14 points. And though his season 3-point rate is abysmal (19.4), he went 2-of-3 from long-distance against the Rams.

Nearly everyone acknowledges that Queen is a one-and-done player. But that doesn’t diminish his desire to win right now. And that’s true even if, sometimes, his teammates wonder.

Queen’s happy-go-lucky attitude “can be a gift and a curse,” Reese acknowledged. Queen’s habit of grinning in intense huddles or after a bad practice is both endearing and perplexing. There are times Reese gets fed up with the rookie.

“He lightens the load on all of us,” Reese said, “and the good outweighs the bad for sure. But there are times you’re like, ‘are you serious right now? Do you actually want the ball?’”

Of course he does. He’s from Baltimore.

(Photo: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)

Three times in the last four weeks, deadly crashes in Prince George’s County have involved drivers fleeing traffic stops.

In each case, investigators say the drivers initially pulled over before taking off.

On Feb. 28 in Hyattsville, Esmeralda Montoya-Perez was killed while she waited for a bus on East West Highway in Chillum.

Seven days later on Addison Road South in Capitol Heights, three-year-old Zoey Harrison was killed while riding in the car with her mother.

And then last Friday on Martin Luther King Jr. Highway in Landover, Patrica Riddick was killed in a horrific crash while traveling through an intersection with her daughter.

So far, no one has been charged in any of the fatal crashes. State’s attorney Aisha Braveboy spoke about the crashes with reporters Monday.

“We know that these individuals did not intend to kill anyone, but when you are fleeing, when you are traveling at high rates of speed, it’s unpredictable. What happens is unpredictable.”

Braveboy said her office will make a decision on charges after the police investigations are completed.

“The police get behind you, put those things that spin red and blue, says they are taking an action to stop you, you can stop,” said Prince George’s County Police Chief Malik Aziz.

If Sen. Charles Sydnor of Baltimore County is successful with Senate Bill 292, officers would be precluded from making traffic stops for some minor infractions.

He spoke about the bill during a January hearing in Annapolis.

“They include the obstruction of vehicle registration license plates in any manner, driving without functioning headlights, brake lights or tail lights, driving without a mirror, with obstructed or damaged mirrors,” Sydnor said.

Sydnor said the bill, if passed, would reduce the racial disparity in traffic stops as well as making it safer for officers.

However, the bill was immediately lampooned by the sheriff in Harford County, who made fun of it in a video posted to social media.

So far, according to the Maryland General Assembly’s website, the bill has been referred to committee.

The Maryland Attorney General’s office will investigate the pursuits that led to those three deadly crashes to make sure the officers involved followed department policies.

The state’s attorney will determine whether the drivers face any additional charges.

It is not yet known if any of the pursuits were started based on any of the “minor infractions” listed in Sydnor’s bill.

The South Carolina Gamecocks will have their biggest test of the tournament vs Maryland.

After defeating Indiana in the round of 32, South Carolina had to wait 24 hours to see who their opponent would be in the Sweet 16. Following a 111-108 double overtime thriller victory over Alabama on Monday, Maryland emerged as the next challenger for the Gamecocks.

Down 64-55 entering the fourth quarter, Maryland had some work to do to keep its NCAA Tournament hopes alive. The Terrapins would go on to outscore Alabama 56-44 over the fourth quarter and overtime to advance to the Sweet 16.

The Gamecocks had a bit of a scare in round two vs the Indiana Hoosiers as they were down at half time and down by eight points at one point. However, the Terrapins will be the biggest test of the tournament so far for the Gamecocks.

Maryland took Alabama to overtime in the second round and despite a 45 point effort from Alabama’s Sarah Ashlee Barker, the Tide fell short.

The Terrapins had some big tests during their regular season, much like South Carolina did. They picked up wins against Duke, Michigan State, Iowa, Minnesota, and Ohio State, all of which were ranked teams at the time of playing them. They did however go 0-3 against top 10 teams with losses to UCLA, USC and Texas.

South Carolina and Maryland met on the court last season in a regular season game back in November of 2023. That game saw the Gamecocks dominate to the tune of a 114-76 victory. Seven Gamecocks finished in double digits on the day, with Te-Hina Paopao leading the way with 14 points.

Tip off for South Carolina’s Sweet 16 matchup against Maryland is set for 5:00 pm (ET) on ESPN.

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