Three-time all-BIG EAST performer and leading candidate for 2008 Academic All-American of the Year honors in D-I baseball ... returning starter at shortstop (his natural position) who earlier served as team's starting third baseman (in '05/'06) ... has completed his undergraduate requirements (3.74 cumulative GPA, as an accounting major) and currently is enrolled in accelerated one-year masters of science in accountancy (MSA) program (see Academic Notes later in bio) ... quick on the bag, complementing his great range, soft hands, fast release and strong arm ... pesky left-handed batter who is a tough out ... hard-nosed player who again should bat near the top of lineup ... his 176 career starts include 166 bating leadoff (72) or in #2 spot (94) ... combines advanced hitting approach with strong on-base ability that includes high walk and hit-by-pitch totals ... tough competitor and strong leader who plays with controlled intensity ... effective bunter who also can hit for high average ... has great knowledge of strike zone and fireplug attitude that puts pressure on defenses ... shows great ability to control the bat and use whole field ... his strong and fearless play at third base helped salvage '05 season (when he was named Freshman All- American and BIG EAST Rookie of the Year) ... grew up playing on teams stocked with older players - leading to his offensive approach focused on getting on base and causing havoc ... quick-thinking hitter who can anticipate middle-infielder shifts to find the hole ... developed unending focus through family regimen of repititive workouts, organized schedules and personal accountability ... followed his older sister Tricia (a former softball shortstop at Purdue) as second-oldest of four children schooled by their father/coach Bill Lilley on virtues of hard work and dedication ... Tricia ended her career as third team Academic All-American ('03) while younger sister Megan will be a freshman on the 2009 Northwestern softball team and 12-year old Jenna recently led her Little Slammers team to a semifinal finish at ASA Nationals ... the propensity for getting hit by pitches runs in the family, as Tricia shares the NCAA softball record for career HBPs (54) while Brett enters 2008 fourth in NCAA D-I baseball history with 78 HBPs (14 shy of record) ... the two oldest Lilley siblings played on same baseball teams (mainly Cantan Jackson Select) until Tricia was 13 ... spent his 6th- 8th grade summers playing in Missouri for Ron Hunt Independent Eagles ... Hunt fittingly retired in 1974 with Major League records for times hit-by-pitch in a career (243; bested by Don Baylor's 267 and Craig Biggio's 285), in a season (50; 1971) and in a game (3) ... no previous big-league player in the 20th century had totaled more than 31 HBPs in a season ... Hunt led the National League in HBPs seven times and also set Montreal Expos records for fewest strikeouts in a season (19; 1973) and fewest times hitting into a double play (one; 1971) ... in 12 big-league seasons - with the Mets (1963-66), Dodgers (1967), Giants (1968-70), Expos (1971-74) and Cardinals (1974) - Hunt struck out only 382 times (14 ABs/K) ... his former Central Catholic HS teammates Alex Schmidt (Ball State) and Brad Competty (Oakland) play for teams on ND's 2008 schedule ... 63rd Ohio native to monogram with ND baseball (others include five starters from 2002 College World Series team) ... inherited #2 jersey worn previously by fellow Ohio native and All-America CF Steve Stanley (2002).

IN THE RECORD BOOKS: A .349 career batter, with .485 career on-base percentage (2nd in ND history) ... has started all 176 games of career, the fourth-longest streak of consecutive starts ever by ND player ... could become fourth ND player ever to make 230-plus starts ... his other career stats include 214 hits in 614 ABs, three home runs, three triples, 18 doubles (.402 slugging pct.), 74 RBI, 150 runs, 91 walks, 78 HBPs (4th in NCAA history), 85 strikeouts, 28 sacrifice bunts, 19 stolen bases and 438 fielding assists (32 errors) ... will enter 2008 season 33 hits shy of ND top-10 and could finish in top- 5 with 66 more hits ... needs 37 runs to crack that top-10 list (50 would make him seventh ND player with 200-plus; 56 would land him in top-5) ... 20 walks shy of that ND top-10 list ... his 28 sacrifice bunts are seventh in ND history (four out of 2nd place) ... ranks 10th at ND in career assists, needing 124 for top-5 ... has +84 career plate-discipline ratio (91 BB+78 HBP-85K) and 149 error-free games (51 in 2005, 49 in both 2006 and 2007) ... owns 12 career games with multiple HBPs, including 4-HBP game at Central Florida early in 2005 and 3-HBPs vs. Ball State in 2007 ... his 78 career HBP are on pace to challenge ND and NCAA records ... former teammate Cody Rizzo had 83 career HBPs (2003-06), second in NCAA record book ahead of former Florida Atlantic player Gabe Somaribba (81; 1999-02) and behind former San Francisco player Tony Hurtado (92; 1997-00) ... joins Rizzo as only Irish players with multiple seasons of 20-plus HBPs (Lilley's 30 in 2005 are ND record/4th in NCAA history) ... a .304 career batter in the NCAAs (7-23, 4 RBI, 3 R, 2B, 4 HBP, 4 Ks, 6 GS) ... his .382 career batting in BIG EAST play is sixth-best ever by ND player (103-270, 35 RBI, 68 R, 3 HR, 3B, 8 2B, 48 BB, 7 SB) ... could finish among BIG EAST's top-5 all-time leaders in hits, runs and walks (for league games) ... his .394 career batting at Eck Stadium (102-259, 29 RBI, 46 R, 3 2B, 30 BB, 14 HBP, 19 Ks, 7-13 SB, 13 Es) is 45 points above his overall mark ... played alongside ND catcher Sean Gaston with wood-bat Cape Cod League's Cotuit Kettleers (summer '06; 33 GP, 4th on team with .370 OB, 17 BB, 6 HBP, 10 Ks, 7 RBI, 10 R, 14 H, 7 SAC, SB, 4 Es) ... started at third while helping Cotuit win division (27- 16-1) before playoff series loss to Wareham Gatemen ... nagging back injury sidelined him for most of 2005 summer (4 GP, with Great Lakes League's Delaware, Ohio, Cows) and 2005 fall ... a .208 career hitter in Blue-Gold fall intrasquad series (5-24, RBI, 5 R, 3B, BB, 4 HBP, 2 SB, 2 Ks) ... hit 3-for-8 for Blue in 2007 BGS (RBI, 4 R, 3B, BB, 4 HBP) ... played errorfree for victorious Gold in 2006 Blue-BGS (1-for-11, SB, 2 Ks) ... hit 1-for-5 (R, SB) for Blue in 2004 fall intrasquad game.

ACADEMIC NOTES: Completed his undergrad requirements in Dec. of '07, with 3.74 cumulative GPA that included 30 A grades, six A-minuses and three B-plus grades among 44 total classes ... posted 4.0 in-season GPA in 2006 spring semester (18 credits), followed by 3.91 in 2006 fall (21 credits) and 3.95 in 2007 spring ... added three A grades in 2007 summer school (at ND) before completing final 20 credits in 2007 fall ... joins pair of senior second basemen (Jeff Grantham of St. John's and Southern Mississippi's Trey Sutton) as returning players who were 2007 first team Academic All-Americans. AS A JUNIOR: Named first team Academic All- American and third team all-BIG EAST ... led BIG EAST and ranked 12th in nation with .512 on-base pct. (73 H, 31 BB, 27 HBP/3rd in nation) ... started all 56 games in leadoff spot while reaching base 53 times (20 consecutive games to end season) ... made most of starts at SS (47; with nine at 3B from Feb. 24-Mar. 11) ... finished seventh among BIG EAST players in batting average (.371), eighth in runs (55), 11th in walks (31), fifth in triples (3) and 10th in fielding assists (159) ... in BIG EAST play, ranked eighth in batting average (.367) with a league-best .517 on-base percentage in BIG EAST action (league-leading 12 HBPs; also sixth with 17 BB) ... finished as ND leader or co-leader in 12 different stats: on-base percentage (.512), hits (73), runs (55), triples (3), HBPs (27), assists (158), games played (56), starts (56), batting vs. RHPs (.387), leadoff on-base pecentage (.489), 2-out batting average (.315) and percent of runners advanced (63%) ... finished second on team in batting average (.371), walks (31), batting with runners on base (.403) and with men in scoring position (.300), plus third in slugging percentage (.452) and total bases (89), and fifth in doubles (7), stolen bases (5) and batting vs. LHPs (.333; other stats included 14 RBI, HR, 28 Ks, 4 sacrifice bunts) ... led team with +30 plate-discipline ratio (31 BB+27 HBP- 28 Ks) that ranks eighth in ND record book ... virtually tied with Pollock for team batting lead (each had 73 hits; Lilley had 197 ABs, Pollock 196) ... combined with Pollock (3rd team) to make ND only BIG EAST team that had both left-side infielders earn all- BIG EAST honors ... his 27 HBP rank third in ND history ... second on team with 21 multi-hit games ... had hits in 41 games and did not go three straight games without a hit (had only pair of 2-game hit "droughts" in all of 2007) ... was on base in 53 games, with season-long eight-game hit streak ... nearly became fifth ND player in 40 years to lead Irish in batting during multiple seasons ... his .512 on-base percentage ranked seventh in ND history (second-best since '93) ... played error-free in 32 of final 35 games (four errors in that span), including 21-game errorless streak (tied career-best) ... named to BIG EAST honor roll in late March, after batting .571 (12-21, HR, 2 3B, 4 BB, .907 slugging, .604 OB) in five-game stretch that included games with Cleveland State and Western Michigan and series vs. USF ... repeated the honor in late April, after reaching base 12 times and factoring into nine runs during 3-1 week (April 23-29), as Irish posted win over Ball State and took 2-of-3 at Rutgers ... hit 4-for-9 in that four-game stretch (4 RBI, 5 R, 2B, 3 BB, 5 HBP, sacrifice fly; extended errorless streak to 21 games) ... reached base five times and factored into seven runs as Irish posted 15-3 win in opener at Rutgers (2-for-2, 3 BB, 4 RBI, 3 R, 2B) ... scored five runs vs. Western Michigan (4-for-5, 2 RBI, 3B, BB) to join former SS/3B Matt Macri (2002-04) as only ND players ever to have five hits in one game and score five runs in another (5-for-5 in 2005 vs. Cincinnati) ... lead role in 16-6 win over #7 Nebraska (4-for-5, RBI, 2 R, 3B) ... reached base five times in series finale at Louisville (2-for-3, 2 BB, reached on error; 7-3 loss).

AS A SOPHOMORE: Second team all-BIG EAST third baseman ... ranked fourth on team with .320 batting average, second in on-base percentge (.441), set ND records for sacrifice bunts (15; 4th in were fourth in BIG EAST and second on team (4th in ND history) ... second on team in starts (57), fourth in hits (65), runs scored (39) and walks (26) and fifth in games played (57) ... owned BB+21 HBP-24 Ks) and third-best OPS (.441 OB+.379 slugging) ... other 2006 stats: 32 RBI, 5 2B, 2 HR, 5-10 SB, 77 TB, .949 fielding (8 Es) ... posted 49 error-free games (no multi-error games) ... opened with 11 straight errorless games ... advanced runners 60.4% of time (2nd on team), also owning team's fourth-best batting average vs. RHPs (.312) and leadoff on-base percentage (.472) ... fifth on team in situational batting vs. LHPs (.339), with 2-outs (.296; 6 RBI) and with runners on base (.328; .321 in scoring position) ... third on team with 19 multi-hit games ... hit 49 pts higher at Eck Stadium (.351, 26-74, 16 R, 2B, 12 BB, 9 HBP, 5 Ks, 5 Es) than in all road games (.302, 39-129, 23 R, 5 2B, 2 HR, 14 BB, 17 HBP, 19 Ks, 5-8 SB, 3 Es) ... made most of his 57 starts at third base (two at DH) while batting mostly in 2-hole (43; four as leadoff, seven as #3 hitter and three in 7-hole) ... owned third-best batting average in league play of any BIG EAST player (.419; 10th in ND history) ... batted 39- for-93 in BIG EAST play, with 25 runs (12th in league), 22 RBI, .540 on-base percentage (2nd), +13 plate-discipline (6 BB+league-best 13 HBP-5 Ks) and league-leading 10 sacrifice bunts in 27 GP (2 HR, 2B, 3-5 SB, .951 fielding/4 Es) ... went 2-for-3 in extrainning loss to Memphis (2 R, BB, HBP, SB; 6-7, in Millington) ... helped Irish rally past #15 Texas A&M, in San Antonio (2-for-3, 2 R, BB, HBP, SB; 5-4) ... named to BIG EAST weekly honor roll after lead role in sweep at USF (9-for-13, 2 RBI, 4 R, 2B, 3 BB, K; 9-5/10-4/10-1) ... hit 2-for-4 with 3 RBI in game-2 vs. St. John's (R, BB, SF; 13-7) ... had big game in opener vs. Rutgers (4-for-5, 2 RBI, 2 R; 11-5) while batting 5- for-11 in that sweep (4 RBI, 4 R, 2 BB, HBP, 2 SAC, SF, K) ... scored winning run in 9th inning of game-1 at UConn (2-for-4, 3 R, BB, SB, K; 7-6), adding 3-for-5 in finale that ended in 1-1, 13-inning tie (HBP) ... started 8-game hit streak in series at Seton Hall (4- for-9) ... his first two career home runs provided insurance in wild game-2 at SHU (14-12), as he went 2-for-3 with career-high 6 RBI (3 R, BB, SAC).

AS A FRESHMAN: Freshman All-American (Collegiate Baseball), BIG EAST Rookie of Year and third team all-BIG EAST ... led team in six categories ... joined Danapilis (.429; 1990) and Pete Schmidt (.367; 1971) as first freshmen ever to lead Irish in batting average (.355) ... his .502 on-base percentage (now 10th in ND history) was best in BIG EAST and just shy of ND freshman record (.509; Danapilis) ... his team-record 30 HBPs ranked second in nation (4th in D-I history) ... totaled 76 hits and 64 "free passes" (34 BB, 30 HBP), with Ryan Topham (63 BB, 4 HBP in 1995) being only ND player ever with more free passes in season ... led team in batting with runners in scoring position (.448) and with 2-outs (.439, 12 RBI), third with .515 leadoff on-base percentage ... advanced runners team-best 66% of time, delivered RBI 73% of time (2nd on team; 11-of- 15) with runner on third and fewer than 2-outs, and owned team-best .368 batting average vs. RHPs (4th with .323 vs. LHPs) ... team leader in plate-discipline, at +31 (34 BB+30 HBP-33 Ks) - best at ND since 1993 (now 7th overall) ... midseason switch from second to third base helped turn around Irish season (14-14 start; 24-10-1 after switch) ... made only eight errors at third (35 GP, 29 error-free; .923 fielding), after team had 18 third-base errors in first half of 2005 ... had hits in 55 games, reached base in 58 and went hitless in back-to-back games only twice (no 3-game hitless slumps) ... BIG EAST leader in on-base percentage, sixth in walks (34) and runs scored (56), eighth in hits (76) and ninth in batting average ... led BIG EAST freshmen in batting, onbase percentage and walks (second in runs) ... could have been first team all-BIG EAST but league's top two hitters, Jared McGuire (BC; .381) and Justin Jenkins (WVU; .359) also played third base ... team leader in batting average, on-base percentage, HBP and sacrifices ... second on team in hits, runs, walks and multi-hit games (20), third in multi-RBI games (9), fourth in steals (9), total bases (81) and RBI (28) ... had 5-hit game vs. Cincinnati, 4-for-4 against UConn and six 3-hit games ... other 2005 stats: 5 2B, .379 slugging, 14 Es/.949 fielding - plus .333 batting average in BIG EAST games (20 R; 1 E) ... 51 errorfree games included 21-game span without an error (96 chances; Mar. 24-Apr. 21) and 14-game error-free stretch to end season ... Brian Stavisky (64; 2000) is only ND freshman ever to start/play more games, Brant Ust (66; 1997) only one to score more runs ... his 172 fielding assists set ND freshman record ... team's second-best hitter in postseason (.360, 5 RBI, 5 R, 5 HBP) ... second on team in batting average at home (.415, 30 R, 18 BB, 10 HBP) and on road (.308, 26 R, 16 BB, 20 HBP) ... made 51 starts in 2-hole (12 leadoff) ... had four HBP (one shy of NCAA record) in early win at Central Florida (4-2) ... went 10 weeks (after spring break) without consecutive hitless games ... first ND freshman ever to post 5-hit game in home opener (vs. Cincinnati; 2 RBI, R, 2 SB) ... hit 2-for-4 with key opposite-field double in 13-6 upset of #17 USC (2 RBI, R, SAC) ... hit .417 in NCAA Gainesville Regional (5-for-12, 3 RBI, 2 R, 4 HBP).

PREP & PERSONAL: Set Canton Central Catholic HS record for career batting average (.483; school-record .495 as freshman) ... played for Hoover HS as senior but slowed by hand injury (6- for-16, 5 RBI, 4 BB, 3 HBP) ... rated among Ohio's top-10 prospects (Buckeye Scout) ... all-state shortstop for 2003 team that went 32-2 as state runner-up (.469, 28 RBI, 45 R, HR, 2 3B, 15 2B, 13 BB, staterecord 19 HBP, .685 OB) ... first team all-state as sophomore second baseman (.486, 32 R, 3B, 6 2B, 19 BB, 7 HBP, .630 OB, 4 Ks, 2 Es) ... hit .495 in 2001 (alldistrict, 40 R, 2 3B, 12 2B, 5 SB, 11 BB, 5 HBP, .632 OB, 4 Es) ... one of two preps in 2004 Pizza Oven Wood- Bat League, featuring former college/pro players and rated nation's best amateur league ... named to Pizza Oven all-state game (2nd on team with .387 batting) ... played 2002-03 summers with Stark County Stars (hit .440 for 2002 regional runner-up) ... played 2001 summer for Boys of Summer regional qualifier (team-best .550 batting), summers of 1999 (team-best .450) and 2000 (team-best .522) with Ron Hunt Eagles ... lettered as WR/DB and kicker with Hoover (2000) and Central Catholic (2001-02) football teams (only 2001 sophomore to start both ways) ... made 8-of-9 field goals (33-yd. sent 2001 regional-title game into OT) ... played several seasons (pre-HS) on elite Internationals soccer club (also basketball as 7th grader) ... member of NHS (4.41 GPA) ... visited campus for 2003 USC-ND football weekend (player host was Greg Lopez) ... born July 30, 1985, in Canton, Ohio ... son of Bill and Deborah Lilley ... Brett William Lilley.

Lilley's Career Bests
Hits
5-for-5, vs. Cincinnati(3/22/05)
six four-hit games
RBI
6, at Seton Hall (5/13/06)
Home Runs
2, at Seton Hall (5/13/06)
Runs Scored
5, vs. Western Michigan (3/21/07)
Hit-By-Pitch
4, at Central Florida (2/20/05);
Hitting Streak
8 games (March 17-28, 2007; May 13-23, 2006)