Penn State hoops sophomore hits NCAA transfer portal
Penn State basketball’s offseason of transfer portal movement continued on Wednesday.
Demetrius Lilley, a 6-foot-10 sophomore forward has entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal, Blue White Illustrated has confirmed.
Along with the transfer portal entries of true freshman guard Bragi Guðmundsson and sophomore center Favour Aire, who both went on Monday, plus dismissed point guard Kanye Clary, the departures of Lilley increases the Nittany Lions’ open scholarships this offseason to three.
Demetrius Lilley makes impact
Despite playing in only five games during his first season in the program, Lilley spent the offseason transforming his body to make contributions with the Nittany Lions under new head coach Mike Rhoades last summer. Slimming down and improving on his athleticism, Lilley parlayed that progress into a depth role this year.
“Meech, I’m really proud of him. He’s in the best shape of his life. He’s done a super job of playing through fatigue and all that stuff. I’m just really proud of how he’s getting better and better because his body’s not getting in his way,” said Rhoades last September. “He has a very good basketball IQ. He’s got to be our junkyard dog. He’s got to be that guy for us and use his basketball IQ.”
Over 20 games, while battling injury late in the season, Lilley contributed 2.8 points and 2.7 rebounds over 9.2 minutes.
Development takes hold
In the process, he helped Penn State get over the top with its upset win over Wisconsin in January at the Bryce Jordan Center. Pointing to that effort, one in which the Nittany Lions won 87-83 thanks to his four points and six rebounds over 19 minutes in relief of Qudus Wahab, Lilley solidified his importance in the lineup.
“He’s been getting better like the game,” said Wahab. “The Wisconsin game, I was in foul trouble and he really came up big for us that game. We were able to win that game because of his contribution.”
Due to an unspecified injury in the latter half of the year, Lilley’s contributions were limited. He appeared just once after an 89-79 win over Iowa on Feb. 8 at the BJC until the Big Ten Tournament in March, with his status still in doubt.
“I mean, the other day he was feeling good and then the last two days, he wasn’t. It’s day to day,” said Rhoades ahead of the conference tournament. “It’s the best way to tell you. We’ll see how he feels today. He’s woken up a couple of days and felt pretty good and was able to help us. Then the last two days, he just wasn’t well. He wasn’t well and he couldn’t go.”
