Russ Rose Then (1996, 1997): Being a good leader, she shows the way things need to be done. She’s proven to be everything we anticipated her to be. . . . She’s one of the best players in the nation and playing in the Olympic Festival gave her the opportunity to see that she could perform with the top players. . . . I would rather lose with players like Terri, than win with some of the athletes playing college sports today.

Russ Rose Now (2025):

Before Penn State: Zemaitis graduated from Downers Grove South High School in 1994, where she excelled in both volleyball and basketball.  She was the Chicago Tribune and the March of Dimes Chicagoland Female Athlete-of-the-Year, a Volleyball Monthly first-team All-American, a “Fab 50” selection, a three-time all-stater and a four-time all-conference selection.  She was a power forward and center on her high school basketball team that went to the Illinois “Elite 8” and was a USA Today All-American, also earning all-state honors twice and all-conference honors four times.  At Downers Grove South she totaled 1.300 career points in basketball.  She averaged 20 ppg and 10 rpg in her basketball career, with a high of 44 points against (Elmhurst) York High School.  Terri earned all-state player honors and was the Player of the Year for both the Chicago Tribune and the Daily Herald  newspapers.