Storylines to monitor during the Early Signing Period

The 2024 recruiting cycle’s early signing window is set to swing open on Wednesday morning. And while most committed prospects are expected to sign with the programs to which they are pledged, some intriguing storylines are in play.

Today, as prospects prepare to put pen to paper, Rivals explores a few of the more compelling narratives to track in the week ahead.

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One of the more publicized ongoing recruiting battles of the cycle has pitted Indiana against Maryland for five-star big man Derik Queen, who is from the Baltimore area but plays his high school basketball at Florida’s Montverde Academy. Houston and Kansas are also on Queen’s list of finalists but the touted forward seems somewhat unlikely to choose the Cougars or Jayhawks.

Head coach Kevin Willard’s Terrapins have long been seen as the front-runner in the Queen sweepstakes, but Indiana has closed the gap in recent months, The Hoosiers landed Queen’s high school teammate Liam McNeeley last month and McNeeley has been publicly and privately courting Queen to Bloomington ever since.

Queen is expected to sign before the early signing window closes and could announce his decision any day now.

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Coaches on the hot seat don’t seem to have as hard a time signing committed prospects these days because programs have become more likely to release players from letters of intent. Still, we could see a committed prospect or two decline to make things official based on uncertainty.

It feels as though Stanford’s Jerod Haase is coaching for his job this year, so Cardinal commit Elijah Crawford might be one to watch. The same goes for Louisville commit TJ Robinson, who has reason to be a bit leery of the situation he’s currently committed to join.

Then, there’s the Ian Jackson situation. A longtime North Carolina commit, Jackson has stated time and time again that he intends to sign with North Carolina, but rumors of St. John’s involvement still persists. The five-star guard will have the chance to put such rumors to bed for good when the signing window opens on Wednesday and is expected to do so. If he waits to sign, however, drama will build quickly.

Harper’s recruitment has been one of the more interesting ones of this cycle, especially when you consider he’s been viewed as a heavy Rutgers lean for almost a year now. The five-star guard remains uncommitted, however, and recently hinted he might take additional official visits and wait until the late period to put pen to paper.

The only additional visit he’s taken since suggesting he’d take a final look around, however, was yet another trip to Rutgers. There’s some credible chatter that Harper may put a surprise end to his story during the early window. If he decides to draw things out, however, Auburn and Duke would join Rutgers on the list of teams to watch going forward.

Harper is the No. 3 prospect in the Rivals150 and the top uncommitted prospect in the class, but five-star guard Tre Johnson isn’t far behind at No. 4. The Lone Star State-based five-star guard is one of the more impressive scorers in the 2024 class and will land in-state at either Texas or Baylor.

Johnson has not announced a timetable for a decision but he seems like a likely candidate to sign in the early period, so expect an announcement to arrive sooner rather than later.

Johnson’s final visit was a late September trip to Baylor, but the Branson (Mo.) Link Year Prep senior has visited both campuses on multiple occasions in the past.