Vol. 119, No. 65

July 18-24, 2019

HOOP DREAMS

Photo by Monica Borja, courtesy of Mavs.com

Josh Reaves’ NBA opportunity is here

BY TYLER KINGTHE DAILY COLLEGIAN

Josh Reaves was recently in a mall in the Las Vegas area when he heard a faint ‘We Are’ chant in the distance.

It’s not the place many would expect to hear that distinct Penn State chant, but for Reaves, who just wrapped up his first NBA Summer League experience, it’s not a surprise.

“I’ve always said this, Penn State travels,” Reaves told The Daily Collegian last week. “I’ve seen a bunch of people out here in Penn State shirts. It’s always been that way when we’ve been on the road or at neutral sites.”

Even though he’s now living out his lifelong dream in the NBA, things haven’t changed much for Reaves.

He’s still wearing blue and white as a member of the Dallas Mavericks and he’s still caus-ing Penn State fans to salivate on Twitter with highlights that include everything from alley-oop passes to stealing the ball and throwing down a dunk on the other end.

“Having that support from alumni and the university means a lot just knowing that they’re behind me,” Reaves said.

This year’s NBA Summer League was a particularly special one for Penn State as it was the first time the program has had two former players participate, with Reaves playing with the Mavericks and Tony Carr playing with the New Orleans Pelicans for a second straight year.

Current Nittany Lion Lamar Stevens said on Wednesday said “it was awesome” to see two of his former teammates playing in summer league.

“They’re both really good guys, so just seeing them put on that platform and playing in the NBA Summer League — I was proud to watch them,” Stevens said.

Should Reaves make the Mavericks roster this season, he’ll become just the second for-mer Penn State player currently in the NBA.

Tim Frazier, who signed a contract with the Detroit Pistons this offseason, is the only Nittany Lion currently on an NBA roster and has been the only former Nittany Lion in the NBA for quite some time.

There haven’t been too many opportunities for the Penn State program to point to past players in the NBA and say to recruits, “Look where our players end up.”

But Reaves could be that recruiting pitch the Pat Chambers and company are look-ing for.

“Now that [representing Penn State at the next level is] an opportunity of mine, I’m going to try and make the most of it,” Reaves said. “Like [Chambers] said, just pave the way forward and be the best basketball player I can be, whatever level it’s at, for whatever team it’s for and for however long I can.”

If Reaves is able to have a long NBA career, it will likely be because of his defen-sive abilities.

In five summer league games, Reaves averaged over one assist per game and made a handful of the prototypical steal into a transition dunk plays that we saw on numerous occasions during his four seasons in Happy Valley.

One of his best sequences in Vegas came in a game against the Croatian na-tional team.

He blocked a 3-point attempt on the perimeter and finished a layup at the other end after a smooth eurostep.

“Everything he’s doing –– nothing is surprising us,” Chambers said on Wednesday. “His statistics speak for themselves. I knew he would translate to that level because he’s incredibly talented [and] gifted, his instincts, his anticipation.”

Reaves is well aware of what is calling card is, but he’s also trying to be-come more of a playmaker on offense, something he was tasked with doing a lot in his final season at Penn State.

“I’m going to be the same type of player [as at Penn State]. But at the same time, I’m just trying to grow and develop my game,” Reaves said. “Throughout the pre-draft workouts, I was really just working on creat-ing my shot off the dribble and playing off the dribble in general. A lot of the workouts had me as one of the guards, bringing the ball up, going through pick-and-rolls and stuff like that. In the system with the Mavs, it’s helping me showcase those skills.

“I’ve always tried to be a playmaker when I have the ball in my hands,” Reaves added. “It definitely helped playing [point guard] for a bit when I was at [Penn State]. I’ve always had that mentality to try to get my teammates and open try to create for others. If the opportunity presents itself for me to score, I’ll score.”

He showed an ability to hit 3-pointers off screens with the Mavs at summer league and seemed comfortable on an NBA court.

“The spacing on an NBA court really helps me out,” Reaves said. “There’s a lot of places to cut, a lot of places to move and create op-portunities.”

On the surface, Reaves didn’t have the best performance shooting the basketball in his five summer league games, going 8-for-25 from beyond the arc.

But the willingness to shoot was there, and that’s going to need to continue in order for Reaves to stick.

If he does end up securing a two-way contract, the maximum num-ber of days he can spend with the Mavs during the season is 45 days.

The rest of the time, he’ll be with Dallas’ G-League affiliate, the Tex-as Legends, where every day and every game is a grind.

“People are out here fighting for spots,” Reaves said. “I’m just trying to take it all in and enjoy the process.”

To email reporter: tbk5155@psu.edu.Follow him on Twitter at @King_TylerB.

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Alumnus models Tommy HilfigerGrace Miller

The Daily Collegian

Penn State alumnus Julian W. Lucas is part of Tommy Hilfiger’s Tommy Adaptive line. But there’s something about him that sets him apart from most mainstream models — he was born with one arm.

Though he experienced challenges throughout his life, the actor and model embraced his differences in the clothing line, which features clothing specifically made for people with disabilities.

Some of the clothing includes pants with magnets instead of zippers or buttons and button-up shirts with magnets in place of buttons.

“Everyone should have [these clothes],” Lucas said. “This shouldn’t even be just specific to people with disabilities.”

Lucas said that working with the Tommy Hilfiger brand was motivating and inspiring.

“[Regarding] some brands, especially nowadays, diversity is so popular, whether it’s race or whether it’s sexuality or physical disabilities,” he said. “Diversity is…trending, I guess.”

He added that some campaigns seem “inauthentic,” but working with Hilfiger was an exception.

“It’s just so forced. It just feels, like, you know, you’re just trying to get notability or sell you something,” Lucas said. “With Tommy, it was clear that they really care.”

Lucas felt the adaptations they made were “thoughtful,” and it was clear to him the people who were working on the line were very passionate about it. He said he also found himself in a place where he was able to give “words of wisdom” to parents whose children have disabilities and were also modeling the line.

“I really feel like I have so much to offer in that regard, so it was really great for me to be in that situation, to be able to talk to these parents,” Lucas said. “At the heart of things… it’s because I genuinely love to help people. I always wanted to build a life around helping people, so at this point in time, it feels like I can really help a lot of people in this regard.”

His service began long before modeling for this campaign, as he tried to help others during his college years as well.

Lucas was involved in a THON organization, but saw the helping mentality throughout campus.

When he first came to campus, Lucas said he noticed little things like people holding doors open, even when it wasn’t completely convenient for them.

David Palmer roomed with Lucas at Penn State during his junior year and Lucas’ senior year.

The two had met at a party at Temple, and Palmer said they “hit it off immediately.”

“We both found ourselves

having more fun outside the party and just shooting the breeze with this guy’s neighbors and you know, bringing it on ourselves to make sure we’re having our own fun,” Palmer said.

The pair spent the night learning more about each other and finding they had similar interests.

“As time went on,” Palmer said, “We both kind of found that we both liked to have fun, but at the same time, we both found ourselves asking those big ‘what do we want to do with our life’ questions and how do we find a meaningful life and how do we contribute?”

Palmer said that he and Lucas are still best friends.

“We really confided in one another to figure out what we want to get out of this world and our work.” Palmer said. “How can we be of help to others? That’s still very much the theme of our conversations nowadays and it’s hard to keep our phone conversations under three hours.”

Now, he’s found success as a model and actor, he said he owes much of his confidence to Penn State.

“I’ve learned so much there, and over the years, especially after graduating, it’s one of those things that I kind of look back and I would say going to Penn State was easily one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,” Lucas said.

As a child, Lucas said his parents taught him to “never say never,” but also made him aware of the injustices he would face.

He was first exposed to this when he started playing base-ball. Lucas’ father had told him, “When you’re trying out for a team, coaches are al-ways going to look for a reason

to cut you. That’s just the way it’s going to be.”

Over time, he found truth in this.

“If I made an error, it was never just because ‘I just made an error,’” he said. “It was ‘I made an error because I have one arm.’”

Lucas says he was fortunate to have a natural level of athleticism — he went on to play semi-pro baseball and competitive basketball.

One of Lucas’ close friends, Dan Pelberg, remembers playing baseball against Lucas when they were kids.

“He was the kid with one arm who was a great athlete,” Pelberg said. “When you’re a kid, it’s easy to remember that.”

Pelberg said that the two of them were very different, but in a way that was complementary.

“I’m much more of a detailed oriented person,” Pelberg said. “He’s much more of a ‘head in the clouds’ person in the best kind of way.”

As they got closer, Pelberg said it was easy to forget Lucas only had one arm because he was so good. In ninth grade, Pelberg said he and Lucas became best friends.

“He’s probably the most passionate person I know,” Pelberg said. “That passion can be applied to relationships, that passion can be applied to his thirst for knowledge, the way he handles his health and fitness. Everything he does, he does with such passion.”

Pelberg said something that stands out to him the most about Lucas is his ability to be vulnerable.

“Just to put yourself out there, to do the modeling stuff. To do the work he’s done in comedy… it takes a lot to go out there, even more so when you know all eyes

are on you already from the get-go.”

Lucas continued to experience discrimination, but said he wasn’t totally aware of it.

His disability impacted him in other ways in high school, too, when he started to care more about physical appearance — especially regarding how girls would see him.

In high school, he said he became close with a girl he talked to every day. He remembers her calling him one night crying, and asked her what was wrong.

“She was, like, ‘You know, all the girls were talking about how hot you would be if you didn’t have one arm.’ At that time, it didn’t really hit me… I kind of moved past it.”

This eventually changed, he said.

“I still remember the moment whe[n] I was walking down the hallway to science class — I went to a pretty crowded school — and there were a lot of kids in the hallway, and I remember I had this moment when I realized so many eyes were on me.”

He recalls learning in psychology that when someone tells another person they feel like everyone is watching them, it’s customary to tell them that isn’t true. But in Lucas’ case, he said it was.

He joked that he had the effect of a celebrity, without any of the perks.

“All of those things really started to compound, and I really developed a lot of anxiety around it, especially once hitting college.”

When he first attended Penn State, Lucas felt he wasn’t being who he really was. He started to take his life more seriously and thought about how he’d feel on his deathbed, how he’d regret liv-ing with fear.

“I felt trapped because I’m such an outgoing person, but at the same time I had some of these anxieties that... kept me from be-ing who I wanted to be,” Lucas said. “Going to Penn State really put that out front and center.”

Lucas said Penn State introduced him to a number of passions, including working out, which was his main motivation for a while. Through being health conscious, Lucas said he learned more about self-love.

After graduating with a degree in psychology, Lucas became an alcohol and drug counselor, where he found that he could connect with people over the experience of struggles and suffering, even if they weren’t exactly the same.

“I felt I could be a better counselor because of my own experience with everything,” Lucas said.

Lucas said he’s always struggled with the idea of being an “inspiration” for others, but it’s something he said he’s since come to terms with.

“It was always very frustrating growing up, you know, people always tried to put me in that light,” he said. “It’s like, I just want to be a baseball player. Not a one-armed baseball player, you know.”

He then reached a point where he realized he couldn’t avoid it. He said that he’d encounter people who were genuinely inspired by his ability to tie his own shoes for example.

“At this point in what I’m doing now, I really want to inspire peo-ple,” Lucas said.

“I want to motivate people, I want people to live a life so much less of fear. I want to encourage people to really take action in their own life.”

To email reporter: lgm5130@psu.edu.Follow her on Twitter at: @graceemilleer.

Courtesy of Julian W. Lucas

Penn State alumnus Julian W. Lucas models for the Tommy Hilfiger’s Tommy Adaptive line, which features clothing made for people with disabilities.

Apollo 11 mission commemorated Lilly Forsyth

The Daily Collegian

Alexia House said she wants to be an engineer when she grows up.

At age 6, House was one of over a hundred guests at the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center on Tuesday to honor the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch.

The free event, hosted by colleges of Earth and Mineral Sciences, Engineering, and Agricultural Sciences and the NASA Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium, featured rocket launchings, food and interactive booths all focused on space and related technology.

At 9:32 a.m., 24 rockets were launched in a giant field at the ex-act time of the original voyage’s launching in the late 60s.

House took advantage of the rocket building table on one end of the main building, where she created a function-ing ship that was later launched. She proudly described her purple and pink creation with “one star [sticker] and two sixes because I’m six.”

The aspiring engineer said she liked how high the rockets went when launched, estimating the ships went “to the clouds.”

House’s father, Christopher, is the director of the NASA Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium and is also a professor in the department of geosciences at Penn State.

Alexia said she doesn’t think her dad meets any aliens on the job but guesses that extraterres-trial beings are green with three eyes.

Christopher, who said he was “reliving his childhood” at such an event, stated that he enjoys bringing his daughter to events like this because one gets to see “the lightbulb go off in their heads” regarding topics such as how a rocket launches.

State College resident Stacey McIntire echoed his sentiments, saying that she makes an effort to expose her own daughter to the sciences and related events.

“I like trying to see what her interests are and I think being exposed to it is good,” McIntire, 36, said. “I think it’s really nice that they have this [event] in the summertime and it’s something to do for the kids.”

Volunteer and PhD student Jason Cornelius said his own in-terest in science was particularly sparked when he was in seventh

grade and his mother informed him that the visor of an astronaut uniform is covered in a thin layer of gold.

Quickly finding a Wikipedia link about the visors, Cornelius said he followed an embedded aero-space engineering link, which first introduced him to the field.

Having the opportunity to in-tern for NASA since then was a “dream come true,” according to Cornelius.

Looking around the room at the young children eagerly ex-ploring the booths, he said he was happy to be a part of it.

“A lot of them may eventually go off and become engineers — some of them maybe want to work for NASA,” Cornelius said, “so I always just enjoy coming and making sure they have a good time.”

Administrative Support Coor-dinator for the consortium said that NASA asked the consor-tiums to create “interesting” ways of celebrating the anniver-sary of what would become the first successful landing on the moon.

Saying that “we are old kids,” High explained that Sven Bilén informed her that there were available rockets that could be launched for the event.

Both she and Bilén said they grew up playing with model rockets. Bilén added that he had always insisted on using power-ful engines, despite the fact that the impressive ascent often re-sulted in a lost ship.

As an educator, Bilén said he is “very interested in making sure that the future generations see what the possibilities are.”

High said the consortium has planned a “book-ending” docu-mentary presentation at the

State Theatre on Saturday along with a presentation from associ-ate professor and retired astro-naut James A. Pawelczyk.

The event will coincide with the official landing of the Apollo 11 mission on July 20, 1969.

To email reporter: lnf5121@psu.edu.Follow her on Twitter at: @lillyforsyth_.

James Leavy/Colleigan

Torsten Bilen of State College, looks at his little sister sit in a glider plane during the Apollo 11 Mission 50th Anniversary Celebration held at the Russel E. Larson Agricultural Research Center on July 16, 2019.

SPORTSJuly 18-24, 2019 Page 3

By Caleb WilfingerThe Daily Collegian

Last month, Penn State was in the midst of one of its most dis-concerting recruiting spells in recent memory.

With a plethora of decommit-ments from highly regarded pros-pects — all in the span of just one week — things were spiraling out of control for the Nittany Lions. With one player backing out from their commitment after another, it seemed to publicly weaken the team, coaches, and program as a whole for other potential commits in the pipeline.

But, these things tend to hap-pen from time to time. Recruit-ing is often a zero-sum game, and the majority of college football coaches are aware of this. In fact, Penn State has had at least three decommitments in every recruit-ing cycle for the past five years, according to 247Sports.

In 2016, the Nittany Lions lost four commitments in only 10 days. In the 2018 class — one that is considered one of the best in Penn State history — the Nittany Lions lost verbal pledges from six players, while still finishing with the sixth-ranked class in the nation. Since then the Nittany Lions have rebounded nicely, to the tune of the second-ranked re-cruiting class in the Big Ten.

Penn State has secured 14 com-mitments since June 3, as part of a frenetic last five weeks. High-lighting the frenzy was 4-star Michigan-native Enzo Jennings, who is rated the No. 3 player in the state. Jennings chose Penn State out of 25 total offers and

instantly became the highest rated player in Penn State’s 2020 class. However, an overarching theme in all of this recruiting cha-os has been the ongoing battle be-tween Penn State and Ohio State.

Moreover, the past month has highlighted the Nittany Lions’ in-ability to keep up with the Buck-eyes on the recruiting trail, in ad-dition to dropping four of the last five meetings on the field.

The problems for Penn State started in the first week of June.

First, 5-star Pennsylvania tar-get Julian Fleming decided to cross state lines and pledge a commitment to first year head coach Ryan Day and the Buck-eyes. Then, on June 9, 4-star Michigan offensive lineman Grant Toutant followed Fleming’s lead, verbally announcing his de-commitment from the Nittany Li-ons, and his move to Ohio State’s 2020 class. This was an especially surprising loss given that Tou-tant originally committed to Penn State back in November, and was the first verbal commitment in the 2020 class.

As mentioned, the Nittany Li-ons have rebounded since that point, salvaging a rough patch that threatened to derail their en-tire summer of recruiting plans.

Regardless, it’s clear that James Franklin has not been able to get the better of Ohio State, both on and off the field.

On the field, Penn State’s in-ability to get over the hump against the Buckeyes has been well documented, right down to the demoralizing one-point losses in each of the last two seasons.

Those struggles didn’t get any

easier when the Fleming bomb-shell dropped, as the Catawissa, Pennsylvania, native could have contributed to a major shake-up the balance of power in the Big Ten had he stayed committed to Penn State.

No matter how you look at it, losing the top recruit from your home state must be considered a major blemish, especially for a coach in Franklin who promised to dominate Pennsylvania in recruiting upon his arrival five years ago.

Part of the fifth-year coach’s problem has been Urban Meyer.

Franklin is undoubtedly a good recruiter, but going up against one of the all-time dis-tinguished coaches in college football is a tough position to be in, especially when it comes to the top-tier recruits.

When Meyer resigned after the 2018 season, it was viewed by many fans and analysts alike as an opportunity for other Big Ten powerhouses —including Penn State — to close the gap on the Buckeyes, both in recruiting and on the field.

Instead, Franklin lost out on these aforementioned recruits to Ryan Day, a first-year head coach who is more than holding his own, especially in the head-to-head battles with Franklin.

At the moment, Ohio State has the No. 1 recruiting class in the Big Ten, and No. 2 in the na-tion, while Penn State still sits at a distant No. 3 in the conference and No. 12 in the country.

To email reporter: cjw5768@psu.edu.Follow him on Twitter: @caleb_wilfinger.

It’s that time of the year — almost a month until the new college football season — when experts and analysts are now starting to predict how teams will do.

Preseason rankings and team predictions, award watch lists, Vegas odds. Now’s a good time to get a sense of how the nation views each team.

How does Penn State look in the eyes of experts? In two words, pretty good.

Most rankings, from the NCAA.com to ESPN to the Sport-ing News, has Penn State around Nos. 12-16. Usually, teams in that spot end up with a 9-3 or 8-4 record, just as the Nittany Lions did last year.

Heading into the Citrus Bowl against Kentucky, Penn State came in at No. 12 in the College Football Playoff rankings.

Did fans consider that to be a successful season? Most prob-ably said no.

So these rankings imply that it will be another disappointing season. Another season where the Nittany Lions win some games, but not against college football’s elite.

There is only one reason why experts aren’t too high on the Nittany Lions -- the uncertainty surrounding quarterback Sean Clifford. Because these same outlets and experts are high on all other facets of the Nittany Lions.

This past May, Bleacher Report ranked Penn State as the second best defense in the coun-try. Not just the Big Ten.

All of college football. Above Ohio State and Michigan.

This past week, linebacker Mi-cah Parsons and defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos were added to the Bednarik Award watch list, given to the best defensive player in the country.

In short, experts believe Penn State will have an elite defense.

So maybe it’s the offense as a whole that has question marks? But KJ Hamler’s still there, and he’s getting preseason

recognition too. He was added to the Maxwell Award watch list, named to the most outstanding player in the nation.

There’s some turnover on the offensive line, but even when they were at their best, it wasn’t the hallmark of the team.

And the Nittany Lions contin-ue to bring in top running back recruits, so there is still confi-dence there.

It all falls on the shoulders of Clifford.

And a common response to this is that he’s a new, inexperi-enced quarterback, so it’s easy to discount him. But looking around to what people are saying about the rest of the Big Ten proves otherwise. Let’s take Ohio State for example. Bleacher Report ranked Ohio State No. 9 in those defensive rankings. Still good, but seven spots away from Penn State. The Buckeyes also lost talent on the offensive end, from running back Mike Weber to,

most notably, Dwayne Haskins. They will also have a new

quarterback in Justin Fields at the start of the season.

So where did Bleacher Report rank them both? Back in Febru-ary, when Tommy Stevens was still on the team, Penn State came in at 21. Ohio State came in at 3.

This is not equating the skill of Clifford to Fields. Fields has the potential to be one of the top quarterbacks in the country. But it just shows how little faith some experts have in Clifford at this point compared to an unproven Fields.

And it’s not just Ohio State that is getting a vote of confidence.

Cleveland.com ran a survey of 34 Big Ten writers, where they gave their predictions for the season.

Fourteen writers picked Ne-braska, who went 4-8 last season, to win the Big Ten West, and even one picking the Huskers to win the title. Nebraska has recruited well since Scott Frost took over, but there’s a lot of con-fidence that it will turn it around.

In that survey, Penn State is projected to finish fourth in the Big Ten East, behind Michigan, the aforementioned Ohio State and Michigan State.

Even with all of the talk sur-rounding the Nittany Lions’ defense and weapons offensively, it’s Clifford that people aren’t sold on yet, leaving him with a lot to prove.

To email reporter: dkj5109@psu.edu.Follow him on Twitter at @DylJacobs.

Noah Riffe/Collegian

Quarterback Sean Clifford (14) throws a pass in warmups during the Penn State Blue-White game at Beaver Stadium on Saturday, April 13.

Penn State still hasn’t closed the recruiting gap with Ohio State

Rankings prove the country isn’t sold on CliffordMY VIEW | DYLAN JACOBS

Collegian file photo

Head coach James Franklin hugs Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer after the 38-39 loss to No. 6 Ohio State at Ohio Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017.

Caitlin Lee/Collegian

Quarterback Tommy Stevens (2) carries the ball during the game against Maryland at Beaver Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 24, 2018.

By Benjamin FerreeThe Daily Collegian

The transfer portal burst onto the college football scene in the 2019 offseason as it seemed not a day in the early spring went by without another player putting their name in the mysterious portal.

A portal that was supposed to be secretive, only open to the coaches and players, a private space in order to better their student-athlete experience, to give more power and freedom to the student rather than the coaches and the conferences on the transfer process.

And the players took these freedoms and all of a sudden, the transfer portal was the most talked about thing in the 2019 offseason.

According to 24/7Sports, who has compiled the largest and most accurate list of players who’ve entered the portal, Penn State saw 21 players enter the portal, the most in the Big Ten, but just how did this impact the Nittany Lions and what does it sat about this team?

“It definitely stinks,” Pat Frei-ermuth said. “Some of the guys were great leaders and great guys and some of my friends but they have to do what’s best for them.

“I’m going to support them ei-ther way. I just think at the end of the day they have to do what’s best for them and wherever they go, wherever they go.”

The players who left Penn State ended up at a large vari-ety of schools, which leaves the question of if the decision to transfer for those 16 players was the right one. Was it the best de-cision for them?

16 of Penn State’s 21 players who entered the portal have committed to another school and won’t be with the Nittany Li-ons in the upcoming season.

Seven players ended up mak-

ing a “lateral” transfer and will be playing for a team in a Power 5 conference next season.

One player, Brelin Faison Walden, will be joining an inde-pendent program in Charlotte.

Three more players will be joining Group of 5 schools, mean-ing 11 of the 16 players from Penn State who transferred are going to be playing football at an FBS school next season.

This means that only five play-ers have dropped to the FCS level. But not all the players who entered the portal left or have even found homes for the upcom-ing season.

According to 24/7Sports, Ir-vin Charles, Brandon Clark and Jabari Butler are still uncommit-ted for the 2019 season.

Two players, Cam Sullivan-Brown and Lamont Wade both entered the portal and decided to come back to Penn State.

It also wasn’t all negative for the Nittany Lions, as Penn State picked up tewo players from the portal in Weston Carr and Jordan Stout.

At the end of the day, nobody will know if the decision to trans-fer for the players was a good one except for them.

Players transfer for different reasons and the question of it be-ing a good decision is a personal one and one that the public can’t question or scrutinize.

This amount of change has to impact a locker room, especially when players like Tommy Ste-vens, Juwan Johnson, Manny Bowen and Zech McPhearson are leaving.

Overall, most of the 21 players who entered the portal and the 16 who did leave the program weren’t going to see much play-ing time this season.

But Tommy Stevens leaving is a sizeable loss as the Nittany Lions lost their only quarterback with major game experience.

Visit collegian.psu.edu to read the full story.

PSU’s busy summer with the transfer portal

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Penn State wedding comes to cableLilly Forsyth

The Daily Collegian

When Maria Umana met Trey Cody at a State Patty’s Day party in 2014, she said she had no interest in being in a relationship with him.

Fast forward five years, the two newlyweds will appear on Thursday night’s premiere episode of “I Do to the Venue” at 8 p.m. on FYI Network.

The show aims to help couples find the perfect venue before their “big day.” Cody and Umana were shown three locations, each of which appealed to the couple in different ways.

Though the two were unable to disclose which location they picked before the episode’s airing, Cody and Umana shared details with The Daily Collegian about their love story and experiences “venue shopping” on the show.

Post-graduation loveLooking back at their

relationship thus far, Umana said she could have never imagined this is where her life would be.

For the first few years of their relationship, fate seemed to draw the couple apart time and again.

Graduating a few months after they met, the couple dated over a long distance due to jobs in different states. Right after college, Umana worked with Johnson and Johnson in New Jersey while Cody worked with Penn State from Philadelphia.

After a year of being physically apart, the couple moved in together just outside of Philadelphia and added a dog named Mia to the small family. Soon after is when the duo returned to Happy Valley for a Homecoming proposal, as was previously reported by the Daily Collegian.

“Meeting Trey was so unexpected, and now he’s my forever,” Maria told the Collegian two years ago. “It just shows that you never know what may happen even if it’s a couple of weeks before you graduate.”

But the happy couple’s nest was separated again as Cody was relocated to New York and later Washington D.C. for work. Meanwhile, Maria remained employed in Philadelphia.

“Right after he proposed, life just took us in different directions oddly enough,” Maria said.

She explained that for the last few months of their engagement, the couple was forced to make things work over long distances again.

Despite the distance, work and wedding planning, the couple agreed to be a part of the show — many of Umana’s family and friends called her crazy for the added stress.

The process had begun when the pair registered for “every wedding planning website in the book.”

Through the registration, the couple’s information made its way into the hands of television shows. Umana said she also applied for the show “Say Yes to the Dress.”

Cody said he was “kind of the driver” behind the TV show because he felt it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

When interviewing for “I Do to the Venue,” Umana say it as a chance to show the producers their personalities and story.

After three weeks, the show informed them of their selection, making Cody and Umana the first pair on the newly-created show.

As the pair settled into a rhythm of traveling to shoot at the venues, working and continuing to plan for their wedding, Umana said the experience on the show was fun, at least in the beginning.

She explained that a week before the wedding, technical issues started to add stress to the planning as snow made traffic

difficult and also, for example, affected audio through damp microphones.

She added that coordinating the schedules of wedding caterers and service along with the show’s crew was difficult at times.

Cody chimed in, saying that getting approval from all the staff and guests to appear on TV was an additional responsibility.

“We went into this, like, ‘This is going to be so easy. They are just walking around, filming whatever comes out of your mouth,’” Umana said. “But no, it was long days, long hours and any time we have to reshoot something… it got really demanding.”

However, through the filming, the couple said the show’s executive producer Lauren Kay was extremely helpful in sorting things out to accommodate the other responsibilities of the couple.

“When it comes to planning a celebration this big there’s so many decisions to make, from where to host the event to which flowers you want, cake flavors, the attire you’ll wear, and many more,” Kay said via email.

Kay said that the couple’s differing opinions on wedding styles did add a challenge to the production, but “The Knot” style quiz helped sharpen the vision.

“Trey always envisioned himself hosting a modern wedding in the city, while Maria had her heart set on a traditional wedding that felt elegant and luxe,” Kay said.

There were upsides to being on a show, as Cody recalled visiting Bloomingdales, which Umana immediately said was “awesome.”

“We had the whole store pretty much to ourselves,” Cody said. “The fact that we were being filmed and people looking and saying ‘Oh, are those celebrities?’”

Now officially married with an “end goal to be together forever,” according to Cody, the couple reflected on how they make things work.

“Two things in mind for me,” Umana said. “One is ‘If it’s meant to be, it will be,’ and ‘It will all work out.’”

Show timeThe first location they were

shown was Russo’s on the Bay in Howard Beach, New York.

Umana said she was instantly drawn the venue’s classic white and gold aesthetic, as she said she preferred a wedding with more “traditional” colors.

Cody did not initially favor the venue, but his wife said there were “certain surprises” that changed his mind.

Next on the list was Dobbin St, an event space in Brooklyn. Upon seeing the venue, Cody found that he appreciated the “industrial” appearance.

For background, Cody said he enjoys do-it-yourself projects and was drawn to the possibilities of the space.

Umana said she is the opposite

and “not creative,” preferring a space that already includes everything she would want.

She needed further convincing beyond that, as the smaller exterior planted a seed of doubt that the venue would be big enough for their wedding.

What finally sold Umana on changing her perspective on the venue was the view from the space. Being from New York, she said she appreciated the city skyline.

Lastly, the couple traveled to the Crystal Plaza in New Jersey.

Adorned with countless chandeliers, the available space personalizations drew in both of them though Cody still wanted a location that was “not another wedding venue.”

Though the couple is unable to spoil the surprise before the premiere, the Penn State alumni wedding featured subtle and not so subtle Happy Valley references at their venue, including a guest appearance of the Nittany Lion himself.

Tables were labeled by various locations on campus and featured engagement pictures at each of the locations. The couple made things even more personal by seating guests at places they felt friends and families would want to visit.

For example, a group of friends they had graduated with was seated at “The Lion’s Den” because the group would often visit the local bar during the school year.

Not every guest was pleased with the placement as Cody explained his mother-in-law had wanted to be seated at another bar location instead of “Inferno Brick Oven & Grill.”

Additionally, chocolate, strawberry and vanilla ice cream was served to guests. Umana said they had planned to offer Berkey Creamery ice cream but the logistics of transporting the dessert foiled the wish.

On that sweet note, Umana also hinted that the guest favors included something related to the Penn State classic: Grilled stickies.

Beyond the physical elements at the wedding, the couple also another Penn State staple to the occasion: the music.

Umana said that when the dance floor was filled, the DJ would randomly play iconic Happy Valley tunes, which she said many of the guests sang along with.

At one point of the night, all Penn State students and alumni and in attendance gathered for a photo and — this was one of Umana’s favorite moments — Umana’s younger sister, who was recently accepted to Penn State, asked if she could join the picture.

Ironically, Umana said she initially wanted no references to her alma mater, but after struggling to find the right aesthetic, she and Cody realized that being Penn Staters was an important aspect of who they were.

“I didn’t want my wedding to be, for lack of a better word, tacky because there’d be Penn State everywhere,” Umana said. “After a lot of talking and planning and figuring out how I can add more us to the wedding, we figured out the classy way to do this was having undertones of these ideas into the weddings.”

To email reporter: lnf5121@psu.edu.Follow him/her on Twitter at: @lillyforsyth_.

Collegian File Photo

Spring 2014 Penn State alumni Trey Cody and Maria Umana pose for pictures with a shirt and vase of flowers after he proposes at the house they met at on 508 E Beaver Ave on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017.

Collegian File Photo

Spring 2014 Penn State alumni Trey Cody and Maria Umana share a toast after he proposes at the house they met at on 508 E Beaver Ave on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017.