Derik Queen isn’t the only former Terps star looking to make an impact as an NBA rookie.
Julian Reese has signed with the Los Angeles Lakers as an undrafted free agent, his agency ADS Sports Management announced Friday on social media.
The 21-year-old Randallstown native and brother of WNBA star Angel Reese entered the transfer portal in April with the hope that a federal antitrust settlement would give him one more shot at college basketball. A fifth season would have allowed Reese to take advantage a much-anticipated settlement of a $2.8 billion federal class-action antitrust lawsuit that opens the door for colleges and universities to make name, image and likeness payments to athletes.
Instead, Reese will look to carve out a roster spot on perhaps the most famous team in basketball led by superstars LeBron James and Luka Dončić.
The 6-foot-9, 252-pound Reese played four full seasons at Maryland and totaled 1,488 points and 1,015 rebounds, joining Len Elmore as the only two players in school history to reach 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. After spending his freshman year as a reserve, the St. Frances graduate started in each of his past three seasons.
“I feel like I’ve been progressing as a player,” he said in March ahead of his final home game in a Maryland uniform. “I’ve felt like I’ve become more of a smart and confident player that’s able to do a lot of things that I wasn’t able to do as a freshman.”
This past winter, Reese amassed 13.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game and earned All-Big Ten honorable mention for the third time as Maryland went 27-9 (14-6 Big Ten) and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016 before losing to eventual national champion Florida. Reese shot 55.5% from the field and 73.4% from the free throw line for the season.
The power forward also stood out in April at the 71st annual Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, a collection of the country’s top college seniors who compete before professional scouts and agents. Reese was named to the All-Tournament Team after racking up 16 points and nine rebounds in his first game, 15 points and 10 rebounds in his second, and nine points and 13 rebounds in his third.
Reese will get his chance to compete against fellow rookies during the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, which starts on July 10 and runs through July 20. The Lakers have long been searching for a reliable big man to anchor their defense and serve as a rim runner on offense to complement James, Dončić and Austin Reaves, a former undrafted free agent from Oklahoma who blossomed into a star.
In addition to Reese and Queen, a Baltimore native who was drafted 13th overall by the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night, former Maryland guard Selton Miguel has signed with the Utah Jazz, according to his nonprofit foundation, M3M. Miguel, an Angola native, finished his lone season with the Terps averaging 11.6 points per game.
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