Spearheading Binghamton’s seven-man transfer class is senior center Demetrius Lilley. After averaging 7.7 points and 5.8 rebounds in 26 appearances for La Salle last season, Lilley was named to the America East 2025-26 preseason all-conference team.

Discussing his time at La Salle, he highlighted the experience of playing under the now-retired head coach Fran Dunphy.

“It was a great experience last year with coach Dunphy, greatest head coach probably ever,” Lilley said. “It was a little tough last year. I had to deal with a couple of injuries last year, my back injury, my wrist injury, so dealing with those injuries kind of limited me to playing and stuff and playing to my best ability. So that’s why I averaged what I averaged last year, but still great playing for coach Dunphy.”

Lilley is no stranger to the transfer portal, as his junior season at La Salle followed a two-year tenure at Penn State. This time around, he highlighted the family-like environment fostered by Binghamton head coach Levell Sanders and associate coach Brian Johnson as a factor in his decision to commit to the Bearcats.

“I would just say the main reason — the coaching staff on my visit,” Lilley said. “[Coach Sanders and coach Johnson], it felt like family when I came and then they were telling me it would be a great situation for me, and Binghamton wants to start winning, be a winning program. So that’s all that I had to hear.”

As a true center standing six-foot-10, Lilley brings a strong presence in the paint that both he and Sanders expect will significantly improve the squad’s spacing on the court.

“Being able to screen and roll and mix it up with screen and popping, I think I wasn’t rolling a lot last year, or most of my points weren’t down low last year,” Lilley said. “So being able to have a coach believe in me, telling me ‘You can do great things down low.’ And then when we do great things down low, the outside will just open up freely.”

Expectations for Lilley are sky-high as he heads into his first season for Binghamton, with Sanders stating that he thinks Lilley could lead the nation in rebounding, along with his naming to the AE preseason all-conference team. However, Lilley’s personal expectations center on the Bearcats making it to the big dance.

“One, I want to win a championship,” Lilley said. “ I want to win the America East. On the rebounding part, coach Sanders is right, I love rebounding the ball. That’s what gets me going in the game. And I think that I can probably be a top-five rebounder in the nation this year, which Coach Sanders is right on that part. But the main goal is to win a championship and hopefully go to the NCAA Tournament this year.”

Despite their limited time together as a full unit, Lilley noted the strength in team chemistry and the depth of talent and size available on the roster.

“I think it’s been great, a lot of new faces,” Lilley said. “We do have some work to do, I think that’s going to come from us just playing games, but we have a lot of great pieces this year. [At] point guard, [junior guard Jeremiah] Quigley can handle pressure, has played big time at George Mason. So I think we have a lot of great talent this year, all around. And we also have a lot of size this year as well.”