Sports

Maryland Star Freshman Derik Queen Gives Legendary Reason For Listening To Coach Kevin Willard

#College Basketball
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Maryland Terrapins freshman Derik Queen had already more than lived up to the billing as a five-star recruit by the time he took the court for Sunday’s NCAA Tournament second-round game against Colorado State. But against the Rams, despite a difficult first 39 minutes, Queen made himself a Maryland legend.

With the Terrapins trailing 71-70 and just three seconds remaining on the clock, Queen told coach Kevin Willard to “Give me the m—–f—— ball!” when the coach asked who wanted it.

“And I said, ‘Alright, you’re getting it,'” Willard continued. “And I said, ‘Don’t mess around, go after it and do it.”

That’s exactly what Queen did, as he dribbled left and banked in a game-winning floater to send Maryland to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2016. The play displayed the level of trust that Willard has in his freshman star. But Queen also has a high level of trust in Willard.

Asked why he and his teammates respond so well when Willard speaks, Queen offered an absolutely hilarious answer.

Maryland Star Derik Queen Says NIL Payments Are The Reason He Listens To Coach

“First, he did pay us the money,” Queen said with a chuckle, sending the rest of the media room into laughter as Willard covered his face. “And so we got to listen to him. And we all trust him because he’s, like, a player coach. And then he want nothing but the best for us and he just coaches hard. He talks to us other than basketball. He’s just always there and just want us to win.”

On3 Sports lists Queen has the 30th-most valuable player in men’s college basketball when it comes to NIL. So Willard and the Terps likely paid a pretty penny to secure his services, and the Baltimore native undoubtedly made it worth it.

As for Willard, he’s one of the nation’s most hotly coveted coaches and recently made an appeal to the university to keep him around amid rumors linking him to the Villanova Wildcats.

“For us to be really successful, x, y and z need to change,” Willard said. “First and foremost, I need to make sure where we are with NIL and rev share… Over the past two years, we’ve been one of the worst, if not lowest with NIL the past two years.”

Willard can obviously coach. His resume speaks for itself. And his Terrapins players seem to love him. So it would seem in the best interest of the university to do everything possible to keep him around.