Blue White Illustrated

L ithuanian forward Deividas Zemgulis – "Davis" to his American friends – is only about two months into his ca- reer as a Penn State basketball player. The Nittany Lions are still in the midst of pre- season practice, and he said that while he has had to make some adjustments as he settles into his new life as a college fresh- man, everything has "been great so far." Eager to make a real impact in his 9rst season with the Nittany Lions, Zemgulis said his biggest challenge has had little to do with jump-shooting, dunking or de- fensive slides. It's had to do instead with his academic career. "One class I'm strug- gling with is English," he said. "But in the other four classes, I'm 9ne." Zemgulis, 19, moved to the United States two years ago and spoke little English be- fore enrolling at St. Mary's Ryken in Mary- land during his junior year of high school. The English he did know had come from watching movies. "But those two years I kind of picked it up and it was good, but then I went back to Lithuania for a couple of months and didn't speak any English again and forgot it a little bit," he said. "I came [back] here and my Eng- lish is no good. I'm try- ing to rebuild myself." Zemgulis knows the language well enough to make himself un- derstood. He chooses his words deliberately around his teammates and coaches, but he says they have become like a family. On the court, Zemgulis said that some of the challenges in the transition from high school to this new level of basketball have been directly tied to those language di;erences. "Communication is way di;erent," he explained. "There's more communication here, and physicality. Guys are way more athletic and faster. So I've just got to adjust to the game and I think I'll be 9ne." The language barrier "does make it a little bit more di

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