18 I WEDNESDAY, March 16, 2005
Mills
From Page 11
the help of Jeremy Scott, the football
team's speed development coach.
Mills has also had the guidance of for
mer NFL quarterback Mike Tomczak,
who is one of Senior's consultants, to
help him make the mental and physi
cal adjustments necessary for the
NFL
"The speed of the game takes off,
and I think, with
Zack, he has to
react more," said
Tomczak, who
played 16 years of
professional foot
ball. "The best way
to get a young quar
terback or skill play
er to react is to put
him in as many situ
ations mentally and
just explore from that.
"He has a strong enough arm, he's a
great athlete, and we just needed to
work on accuracy and knowledge."
Mills and Tomczak worked together
for a full day in Pittsburgh this spring,
which included an evaluation of Mills'
core strength at the University of Pitts
burgh Medical Center that led to some
necessary recommendations for his
training program.
"He had one little, small mechanical
flaw, in his core, that can allow him to
make big positive gains," Tomczak
said. "His core strength wasn't where
Liberty
From Page 11.
"The biggest difference is going to
be boxing out for me on defense. She's
so tall and her arms are so long,"
Schwab said. "I kind of experienced
that with [Ohio State pivot player Jes
sica] Davenport; sometimes I had her
boxed out, or at least I thought I did,
but she just reached over me."
The Lady Flames faced Ohio State
and Big Ten Player of the Year Daven
port about one week after Penn State
beat the Buckeyes in State College.
Ohio State pounded Liberty, 66-51.
Feenstra did outscore Davenport 17-
6 and did out-rebound her, 11-4, howev
er, and that may not bode well for
Schwab.
"Their offensive rebounding is phe-
WEDNESD
areWACKY
From lOpm to Midnigh,
you getI7NI4II,IIITF:
bowling and pizz a
for only $9.99 per person (814) 237-1500
1521 Martin St. SC, PA 16803 Bowling
Next to The Arena & Billiards
The Smeal College of Business
SITILILT Conference
March 18, 2005 at the Nittany Lion Inn
"Include Everyone, Exclude No One "
4 •
)0.
-
Guest Speakers:
Kimberly-Clark, IBM
Clemente Abrokwaa, Vern Carraway, Anne Riley
S.T.A.R.T aims to prepare individuals for a diverse workplace
Conference Begins- 11:30am
Lunch- 12:30 to I:3opm
Session Workshops- 2:00 to 4:oopm
Panel Discussion & Reception- 4:00 to s:oopm
Advance Registration- 104 Beam or njll32@psu.edu
All are welcome! Register Now- Space is limited!
Free Lunch & Raffle Prizes!!!
it needed to be, that's when the accu
racy tends to be the end result.
"A strong lower back, abdominals
and hip flexors really are important for
throwing the football."
Mills' arm strength has been his
self-proclaimed weakness, but both
Tomczak and Senior feel that his arm
strength is sufficient for the NFL.
"You hear that, people say, 'Well,
Zack doesn't have the strongest arm in
the world,' but I looked at the scouting
reports on the kid from Utah [Alex
Smith], and he's got what they consid
er is average arm strength," Senior
said. "Zack's going to surprise some
people. He's been able to focus on cer
tain strength training things that will
help delivery, and he'll surprise some
people with his arm strength. He has
the ability to make all the NFL throws,
and we made a compilation on tape
that shows his ability to do that."
Ibmczak has also worked with Mills
on calling audibles, play-faking and
exploding away from center to get
more time in the pocket, qualities that
give quarterbacks an extra look from
NFL scouts.
Tomczak also feels the fact that Mills
is a lefty will help his cause, but, until
after tomorrow, neither he nor Senior
has a concrete idea of how the draft
will play out.
"We'll get his name in the ear of the
right people," Tomczak said. "Our goal
is to find one team to fall in love with
him and give him an opportunity.
[Tomorrow] will be a good sign of
what's to come."
nomenal," Portland said. "They are
very solid, they shoot the ball well, they
play a solid 2-3 zone."
The only other opponent that both
teams have in common is Duke. The
Blue Devils annihilated Liberty, 83-48,
and pulled out a close game against
Penn State nearly a month earlier, 66-
58. Both games were at Cameron
Indoor Stadium.
Liberty's biggest win of the year
came on Dec. 4, when it beat Kansas
State, a No. 4 seed in the Kansas City
Region. The Wildcats were playing
without their leading scorer, Kendra
Wecker. The Lady Flames took advan
tage and hung a 77-56 loss on K-State.
"If you play them on a night that they
are committed to getting Feenstra the
ball and the small forwards are shoot
ing well, they are very formidable,"
Kansas State coach Deb Patterson said.
Tate
From Page 11
team in assists. In March of that year,
Tate had surgery on a torn bicep ten
don. He attended rehab twice a day
and couldn't even touch a basketball
until September. And that's when the
not-so-memorable road took a detour.
"That month of May is kind of a
blur," Tate said. "Then the drinking
escalated that summer. It was tough
because I had lost a lot of what I had
and couldn't do a lot of things I used
to."
Somehow, Tate persevered through
preseason conditioning of his junior
year but after scoring just 13 points in
the first five games, he left the team to
deal with what the team announced to
be undisclosed personal problems.
No one knew why Tate really left.
Even his roommates were convinced
that he had to focus on personal issues.
Senior forward Jason McDougald, for
mer Penn State guard Sharif Chamb
liss and former Penn State forward
Ndu Egekeze, who all lived with Tate,
were unaware that he was often drunk,
drinking anything he could get his
hands on, by himself, in his room in
Nittany Apartments.
Phil Collichio, Tate's high school
basketball coach and close friend,
sensed something was wrong when
the "best player and person I've ever
coached" visited Linden High School
when he was home. His unkempt
appearance insinuated something was
affecting the deep-thinking, family-ori
ented and friendly Tate.
"What was most important was tak
ing care of Jamaal the person, not the
basketball player," Collichio said.
Tate began to see a counselor in
April 2003, who made him feel comfort
able enough to pick up the phone that
Calvano
From Page 11
team and All-Academic team honors in
2003 and started every game in his last
two seasons.
Calvano will now take his game to the
next level, but is trying to take the pres
sure in stride.
"I just look at this opportunity as
another step in the right direction," he
said. "It's professional soccer. so this
will just make my game better and give
PENN STATE Makeng Lfff Befter •
Nan Sit* i‘<ornmind tr, IS. 00101, atluti oppromtt onef 'hot dre.oy 4 ft,
Li Ft an C 5-120400.49 C0rr:36.0 zoos N. Penryform.S.4!.;,...a.,
SPORTS
June morning when he realized he
needed help. Since then, Tate has been
sober and he's been courageous
enough to share his story with the gen
eral public.
Tate sat out all of last season to
focus on sobriety and his Recreation
and Park Management degree, with
which he will graduate in August. But
his life wouldn't be "back to normal"
without athletics. He's been playing
basketball since he was 11.
This season, Tate returned to the
court briefly. It didn't matter that he
dressed for only nine games.
"Getting back in shape was the sec
ond hardest thing I had ever done, but
I did it," Tate said. "I fought through it
as strong as I could because I wanted
to give it a shot."
On Nov. 7, Tate was rewarded as he
received a standing ovation when he
subbed in to the Lions' first home exhi
bition match of the season, against
East Stroudsburg.
"It was hard for me to keep my emo
tions back," Tate said. "It was a year
and-a-half long dream because I had
achieved something and worked really
hard for something."
It's irrelevant that Tate didn't finish
out this season. He never got com
pletely back in shape and was far
removed from his athletic 215-pound
frame. Besides, the 6-foot-5, 242-pound
jolly "old man," who is constantly smil
ing, offered just as much to the young
Penn State squad from the sidelines.
And his soft-spoken words of wisdom
mean more than a 3-point shot ever
could.
"It's pretty satisfying that I accom
plished things on all levels I played at,"
Tate said. "I can't complain at all. I did
a lot of things I dreamed of as a kid.
"I know everything happened for a
reason, I don't like the 'what if'
because ultimately it's not up to me."
Calvano
be a ' sting year for him, no
doubt about it. Salvini said. "The com-
STATE
RIDE
2 CREDITS!
*t Wednesdays
March 23.
mullion:
►DAY (778-8632)
PENN STATE
me another chance
to play competitive
soccer."
Playing in the
USL will be the
highest competition
that Calvano has
ever had to face.
Salvini said that Cal
vano will be able to
succeed, even with
the pressure.
Gonorrhea • Chiamydia • Syphilis • HIV
Also Available: FREE Cervical Cancer Screening
FREE Hepatitis Vaccinations • Risk Reduction Counseling
FREE CONDOMS!
Testing Treatments are FREE El Confidential
•Program Sponsored by the PA Department of Health
State College Medical Services F.
Not Just For Women
Call 867-1788 or 1-800-414-8731
for your APPOINTMENT TODAY!
Convenient Location in Downtown State College
lows
1
M;!=
Prince Frederick Spells/Collegian File Photo
Senior Jamaal Tate went through four
difficult years on and off the court as
a member of the Penn State men's
basketball team.
petition will be up a couple levels of
play, but we think he's good enough to
play on it." •
So it looks like Calvano will be step
ping out of the classroom and into his
familiar cleats for a while. But Calvano
still realizes that he may see himself in
front of a packed classroom once his
soccer career is finished.
"I'm going to take this opportunity for
what it's worth," Calvano said. "I just
want to play as long as I can, while I
still can. Soccer's my first love, so that's
what I'm looking towards now"
Mil