Another former Penn State basketball player has reportedly found a new home out of the transfer portal. According to a report, Demetrius Lilley has committed to La Salle to return closer to his Philadelphia roots.
Ari Rosenfeld of ELITE High School Scouting reported news of the transfer commitment via a post on social media. In that post, Rosenfeld noted Lilley has two years of eligibility remaining with the Explorers.
Lilley was a three-star recruit in Penn State’s Class of 2022 under former head coach Micah Shewesberry. La Salle was one of the schools that extended an offer to Lilley out of high school, as was another Big 5 program (Saint Joseph’s).
Lilley spent two seasons with Penn State before entering the transfer portal following the conclusion of the 2023-24 college basketball season. Lilley averaged 2.8 points per game and 2.7 rebounds per game this past season. He averaged 9.2 minutes per game and appeared in 20 games.
Penn State transfer Demetrius Lilley has committed to La Salle, per source.
A skilled 6’9” post + product of @aceshoops/@PhillyPrideAAU, Lilley projects as a focal point up front for the Explorers. Has 2 years to play after averaging 2.8ppg/2.7rpg over 2 years in Happy Valley https://t.co/XrGaajBP7q pic.twitter.com/qTBJZT5vFP
— Ari Rosenfeld (@ARosenfeldHoops) April 1, 2024
You can keep up on all the transfer portal changes with the Penn State men’s basketball roster with our updated transfer portal tracker for all of the comings and goings for the program this offseason.
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Even with those big-name backers already in tow, O’Neal recently told Fortune that his decision to invest an undisclosed amount in the startup ultimately came down to his belief that Campus could “change people’s lives” — which reminded him of advice he’d previously heard from Bezos.
“I heard Jeff Bezos say, if you invest in things that’s going to change people’s lives, you’ll always get a great return on your investment,” O’Neal said. “But this particular investment is not about great return because I feel that everyone should have access to world-class education.”
Launched by tech entrepreneur Tade Oyerinde, 29, in 2022, Campus is an accredited online community college that offers classes taught by professors who also teach at universities such as Princeton, Vanderbilt and Spelman College. Oyerinde, himself a college dropout, said in a statement last year that he founded the startup to make “higher education more accessible, more affordable, and more relevant” to students across the country from diverse backgrounds and income levels.
It’s not the first time Bezos has influenced one of O’Neal’s business decisions. In 2022, the basketball Hall of Famer said he was “scared” off from making a bid to buy the NBA’s Phoenix Suns after reading reports that Bezos might be considering his own offer for the team. O’Neal, who has an estimated net worth above $400 million, said at the time that he’d rather not compete against Bezos and any other “heavy hitters” who were eyeing the team, which eventually sold to billionaire Matt Isbhia a year later.
And, O’Neal has long touted Bezos’ advice to seek out investment opportunities that he truly believes can “change people’s lives.”
“If something comes across my desk and I don’t believe in it, I don’t even look at it,” O’Neal told The Wall Street Journal in 2019.
O’Neal’s investment track record includes a number of successful plays. (O’Neal claims he never actually invested in doomed crypto exchange FTX, though he did serve as a paid spokesperson.) The basketball legend’s portfolio includes investments in Google, Lyft, Ring and Vitaminwater, along with owning franchises of businesses such as Papa John’s, Auntie Anne’s, and Five Guys.
Bezos’ advice helped O’Neal trust his conviction in a business’ mission, even over pure financial motivation, though he told WSJ in 2019 that it’s certainly paid monetary dividends, as well.
“Once I started doing that strategy, I think I probably quadrupled what I’m worth,” he said.
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