9/24/2021 basketball Edit

In-state big man Demetrius Lilley commits to Penn State basketball

• Happy Valley Insider

The commitments keep rolling in for Penn State Nittany Lions basketball.

Big man Demetrius Lilley announced his commitment to the Nittany Lions on Friday afternoon, becoming the fifth member of Micah Shrewsberry's first recruiting class at Penn State.

Lilley chose the Nittany Lions over Texas A&M, East Carolina, La Salle, Bryant and Saint Joe's.

"It's definitely going to be the start of something new," Lilley told BWI. "That's the main reason that I chose Penn State. They're building something really new.

"That just gives me a lot of motivation because it it puts a lot of pressure on us to come in and do what we have to do, but that's one of the main reasons that I chose Penn State, just because we're going to build a new legacy at Penn State."

Penn State Nittany Lions basketball picks up commitment from Demetrius Lilley.

Lilley's commitment gives the Nittany Lions the largest class among all power conference schools at this point in the cycle.

Standing at 6-foot-9, Lilley is the No. 31 ranked center in the nation according to Rivals.com analysts.

He plays his high school basketball at Lower Merion, making him the second member of the 2022 class to hail from the Philadelphia region, along with guard Jameel Brown.

Shrewsberry offered Lilley a scholarship during a face-to-face conversation in his office, which Lilley appreciated. He also liked how Shrewsberry was up-front with him about what role he could expect to play.

"He was just real straight up with me," Lilley said. "You're going to have to do this, do that. I was like, 'Let's go.' A lot of coaches would have told me that, you're going to come here, you're going to start, you're going to be our main player and lie to me. I like how he was straightforward."

Ultimately, Lilley feels as through Shrewsberry is a coach who can relate to him as well.

"He's a Black coach," Lilley said. "You don't really get that a lot right now. Definitely him being African-American was great. Him being able to feel where I come from and everything."

Lilley is the second big man to declare for the Nittany Lions in a week following Kebba Njie's announcement last Saturday.

Lilley and Njie were both on Penn State's campus for an official visit on the weekend of September 12, taking in Penn State football's win over Ball State inside Beaver Stadium.

The next commitment to watch for Penn State basketball fans comes next Friday, when four-star top-100 guard Otega Oweh will announce his college decision.