Sanders fulfilled multiple roles in his debut with Binghamton last season. He averaged 14.6 points and 9.4 rebounds while playing 33.4 minutes per game as a starter in the first 11 games.
At that point, Lilley was third in the country with eight double-doubles and 13th in rebounding.
The production did not surprise Sanders based on what he had seen from Lilley in his previous stop, putting up 7.7 points and 5.8 rebounds while playing less than half a game for La Salle in the Atlantic 10 in 2024-25.
“When we were watching him, we really thought with more minutes, his production could skyrocket,” Sanders said, “just because he was so productive in the minutes that he played in the Atlantic 10.
“We just thought in our league, he would be really productive. That was the case. He didn’t get to play any conference games, but we look forward to him playing in the America East.”
Lilley already proved where he could fit in during Binghamton’s non-conference schedule. He pulled down 13 rebounds against Syracuse in his debut and scored a career-high 25 against Longwood.
While the Bearcats will rely on Lilley to rebound even more, it remains to be seen where his scoring average will go. Sanders hopes for Lilley to get the ball in different situations this season rather than just pounding it in to him in the post and forcing him to convert from there.
“We’re excited to be able to get him back and we’re expecting a big year out of him,” Sanders said. “ … Early on in the season, I thought we tried to go to him maybe too much. I don’t want to do that this season.
“Jeremiah Quigley, our point guard, had a tremendous year last year. I want to play a little bit faster, so a lot less of just dumping it into him. We’re going to have him try to score more in the flow of the offense.”
Lilley, who shot 43 percent from the floor and 81 percent from the line last season, is ready to try to make that work. He said he hopes to be in better position to score and be more efficient and also often end up in a better spot to grab offensive rebounds.”
“Basketball is a read of what the defense gives you,” Lilley said. “Whatever they give me, I have to read and react.”
Lilley is one of the keys to Binghamton trying to improve on a season in which it finished 4-12 in the America East and 8-23 overall. It was 3-8 against a difficult stretch of its schedule before losing him.