Penn State Basketball: Nittany Lions Land Another Commitment as Class Now Top 10 in Nation

Penn State men’s basketball added another verbal commitment to its 2022 recruiting class as Lower Merion center Demetrius Lilley announced his decision on Friday.

Lilley hits the scales at 6-foot-10 and 230 pounds and chose the Nittany Lions over a handful of schools, including Philadelphia programs La Salle and Saint Joseph’s. Lilley officially visited Penn State earlier this month after receiving a scholarship offer in August.

The Ardmore native is the fifth verbal commitment in Penn State’s 2022 recruiting class that is now ranked No. 9 in the nation and the third-best in the Big Ten behind Ohio State and Indiana. The Nittany Lions are still waiting the decision of Otega Oweh who is rated the No. 73 overall prospect by the 247 Network. Oweh was slated to announce his decision on Friday as well but has since moved that date to Oct. 1, when he will announce on the CBS Sports Network.

Penn State’s class is currently headlined by Kebba Njie and Jameel Brown who are rated No. 104 and No. 127 in the nation, respectively. Both have received four-star ratings by various recruiting outlets. Njie is a four-star on the 247 Network while Brown has alternated between a three- and four-star rating.

Verbal commitments Evan Mahaffey and Kanye Clary round out the class so far with Oweh likely to commit to the Nittany Lions as well at the start of next month.

Oweh’s commitment would put a cap on a memorable recruiting cycle for new head coach Micah Shrewsberry. The Nittany Lions class gets an additional boost in the rankings for volume alone, although Njie, Brown and Oweh make for a formidable trio of commitments in their own right.