Ex-Piston Mills' heart still beats for Romulus

Terry Foster / The Detroit News

http://cmsimg.detnews.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C3&Date=20080312&Category=SPORTS05&ArtNo=803120416&Ref=AR&Profile=1049Q=100&MaxW=290&MaxH=290

HIGHLAND TOWNSHIP -- The nails are always the first thing to go when Terry Mills is nervous.

He sat in the upper corner of Milford's gymnasium watching Romulus, his former team, play Orchard Lake St. Mary's in Class A quarterfinal action on Tuesday night. As the intensity increased, Mills jammed his fingers in his mouth, chomping on his nails as if devouring an ear of buttered corn on the cob.

"Get on the floor!" Mills screamed as the two teams battled for a loose ball.

A few minutes later, forward Stephan Jenkins traveled while bringing the ball up the floor late. Mills, a former Michigan Wolverine and Piston, jumped up in anger.

"Hey, we got to get some guards back there!" he screamed from the rafters.

Mills is usually cool and calm, but the Eagles' 54-48 victory over St. Mary's -- with the outcome in doubt until the final moments -- brought out raw emotions and shorter fingernails. Mills saw Willie Clyburn (14 points) and Devin Pankey (10 points) lead the Eagles to victory.

Mills roots for Romulus because this is where his roots are.

A place to call home
Mills won a state title with Romulus in 1986 before moving on to basketball fame at Michigan and later with the Pistons. He retired from the NBA in 2001 with the Indiana Pacers and since has become one of the Eagles' biggest fans. Mills is a regular presence at games and drops by practices to talk to the team.

"We see him from time to time, and we love having him around," said Romulus guard Dominique Buckley, who is headed to Iowa State.

Mills loves passing along advice to younger players. He was a 6-foot-10 power forward who loved venturing out to the 3-point line. He won a national championship with the 1989 Wolverines, and his most productive seasons were with the Pistons (1992-1997, 2000-2001). He was a career .387 3-point shooter and averaged 10.8 points and 5.5 rebounds during 12 seasons.

Now Mills wants to coach. He plans on sending his resume to the University of Detroit Mercy and attending the Final Four in San Antonio.

"Yeah, I got to go down there and network," he said laughing. "Once you leave the NBA, they stop calling you."

Mills coached the Macomb County Mustangs of the International Basketball League in 2005, but the team ran out of money. He also worked with some rookie players during NBA camp in Orlando and has helped out with Romulus and Eastern Michigan University.

Mills is serious about coaching, getting his degree in sports management from Michigan last year.

He knows the Detroit area well and has become a high school basketball junkie. That's one reason why he believes he'd be a valuable recruiter.

Mills said he plans to attend the Pistons' 50th anniversary celebration, his first Pistons game since retiring.

Action-packed
The Eagles dug themselves from an early hole to take a 32-20 halftime lead, but St. Mary's scored the first six points of the second half and Mills' mood turned edgy.

"This is typical Romulus," he complained while shifting in the stands. "Any time we get going, this is what you are going to get."

He also wasn't thrilled with the Eagles' failure to keep 6-9 St. Mary's center Davide' Curletti (14 points) off the boards.

"Are we going to block him out?" Mills asked.

But the game turned Romulus' way and a happy Mills began making plans to attend Friday's semifinal in East Lansing.

"Yeah, I will be there. No question," he said. "I am staying the entire weekend."

In related but unrelated news...


Rose would help program blossom [smilie=punks.gif]

By Mark Giannotto on 3/12/08

He never addressed a possible coaching future while speaking with reporters during a reception on Jalen Rose Day.

But at Michigan's 49-43 win over Illinois Feb. 23, former NBA and Fab Five star Jalen Rose sure seemed like a future college coach.

Before tipoff, every Wolverine starter went over to Rose's courtside seat to pound fists as if he were another assistant coach.

Players didn't leave until each got a nod of approval from Rose, some even waiting for a last word of encouragement. Heck, Rose even coached one current Michigan player - sophomore DeShawn Sims - in a Detroit summer league a few years ago.

And when asked before the game what he wanted to get out of the day, one meant to honor his contributions to the community, Rose wasn't concerned with his achievements.

Like a coach, his focus was on the game at hand.

"The team has been struggling this year, so I want them to play the best game of the season," Rose said.

So if the players already treat him like a coach, and he's already talking like a coach, why isn't Rose a part of the Michigan basketball program?

Yes, I realize there's a stigma attached to the Fab Five, seeing as Chris Webber, Rose's childhood friend, can't have anything to do with the program until 2013.

But do you realize it's been 15 years since Webber last took the court in a Michigan jersey? Snoop Dogg was accused that same year of being an accomplice to a murder. Now, he has a reality show on E! about his parenting skills. Much has changed.

Frankly, it's about time this program lets bygones be bygones and gets back to winning basketball games legitimately. And part of letting go of the past is letting Rose get back in the fold.

"There's no shame," Rose said of the Ed Martin scandal. "What was said was said. What was alleged was alleged. But ultimately, time heals all wounds, in my opinion. It's going to be time to move on eventually. I just hope I'm not in a wheelchair or walking in a cane or in a gravesite when it happens. I want to be here to see it."

I'm not condoning Webber - and likely some of his teammates - receiving NBA salaries while at Michigan. In 2002, Rose said he accepted pocket money from Martin, but he wasn't part of the NCAA investigation.

But at the same time, I'm done condoning the Wolverines' recent performance on the court. For the team, the problem is easy to identify. It's just much harder to fix than Michigan coach John Beilein may have thought. As open shot after open shot clanked off the rim this season, it became clear that the Wolverines lack talent.

To his credit, Beilein is trying to fix this. He has already brought in Arizona transfer Laval Lucas-Perry, along with three Beilein-esque players (read: great shooters lacking in athleticism but ripe for development) in the 2008 recruiting class.

When explaining why he wanted to Michigan at his introductory press conference last April, Beilein spoke of a desire to go after the nation's elite recruits. He thought the Michigan brand gave him that ability. So far, it has gotten him in the door with the top AAU stars, but no 4- or 5-star recruits have signed on yet.

That would change if Rose were walking into the homes of recruits on behalf of the program. With his accomplished 13-year NBA career, which ended last season, recruits would see a recognizable face they could associate with past Wolverine basketball glory.

Put him alongside fellow Detroit natives Sims and freshman Manny Harris, and the Wolverines will have a stranglehold on the fertile recruiting territory that is the Detroit Public School League. Rose may have been nomadic during his pro career, playing for six teams, but he remains a local legend from his days at Detroit Southwestern High School.

And judging from Rose's halftime speech two weeks ago, when he cut off the band, which began playing "The Victors" before he finished his speech and thanked his Fab Five teammates, none of his signature charisma has disappeared since he left Ann Arbor in 1994.

Rose as a coach just makes too much sense. But then again, that's what we said about Les Miles, too.

Rose said two weeks ago he planned to sit down with Beilein after this season to talk about anything basketball-related.

For the program's sake, let's hope the conversation revolves around making every day Jalen Rose Day for the Michigan basketball program.

http://media.www.michigandaily.com/media/storage/paper851/news/2008/03/12/Basketball/Rose-Would.Help.Program.Blossom-3264616.shtml

So I don't get it, does Jalen Rose want to be on Beileins staff?


Shows you how fun a job at ESPN must be...