It has been more than two and a half months since the start of the regular season for the Penn State men's volleyball team, and a final decision still has not been reached regarding senior John Mills' eligibility.

On March 11, Penn State filed its second appeal for reconsideration of the NCAA's eligibility decision. The subcommittee originally determined that Mills' participation on a club team at San Diego State University during the 1999-2000 season should be counted as a season of competition.

"It's a really convoluted situation," Lions head coach Mark Pavlik said. "Whoever is on the chair of the committee is doing a poor job of making a decision in Mills' favor."

An official from the Penn State NCAA Compliance Office, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated that final word on the office's final request for review of Mills' situation is expected.

"We made a final presentation on behalf of John and we are waiting for a response to that," the official said.

Penn State's most recent appeal was rejected by the Administrative Review Subcommittee, but is under review by the NCAA administrative review chairperson, Mills said. Since this is the third time the committee has reviewed his eligibility, Mills said that the chairperson is unlikely to question the committee's decision by overturning it.

Mills, who in 2001 led the Lions in blocks (118), was third on the team in attacks (473) and kills per game (2.70), played on the San Diego State's volleyball team during the 1997-1998 and 1998-1999 seasons. He left following the 1998-1999 season because of personal issues stemming from conflict with the team's coach.

In the fall of 1999, he played on the university's student-run club team. Before joining the team, San Diego State's Director of Compliance and Student Affairs Justina Boyd told Mills that his participation would not count against his eligibility as long as he did not play or practice with the men's varsity team.

In February of 2000, San Diego State announced it was dropping men's volleyball as a varsity sport. Mills then obtained a letter from Boyd confirming that he had only used two years of his NCAA eligibility while at San Diego State. The letter dated June 7, 2000, and signed by Boyd, states the following:

"San Diego State University will discontinue sponsorship of men's volleyball as an NCAA sport at the conclusion of the spring 2000 semester. Thus, pursuant to NCAA Bylaws ... we release the following student athlete from his athletic obligations at SDSU."

Below the statement, John Mills' name is listed as a junior redshirt, meaning he had two years of eligibility remaining.

According to Mills, UCLA filed a claim that when he played on the club team at San Diego State, he used a year of eligibility.

"UCLA brought this all up and pressed the issue," Mills said.

In defense of UCLA, assistant men's volleyball coach Brian Rofer said that according to NCAA rules playing on a club team counts as a year of eligibility.

"How John Mills wants to look at the rules is up to him," Rofer said. "It's unfortunate but that's the way it is."

Because San Diego State was dropping the men's volleyball varsity program, Mills decided to transfer. Mills said he was recruited by Penn State and UCLA -- the same university that he alleges has filed the claim.

Mills said he was about two weeks away from attending UCLA before deciding to go to Penn State.

While being recruited, Mills received an email from the UCLA compliance staff. The email from brofer@athletics.ucla.edu -- the email of Rofer -- dated April 25, 2000, states the following:

"We did get another release for you from SDSU and it states that 2000-2001 you are a Jr. (redshirt) so that means you have two years left to play, so we will leave it at that."

UCLA, therefore, had acknowledged Mills had two years of eligibility.

On the contrary, in a Jan. 29 issue of The Daily Collegian, UCLA men's volleyball head coach Al Scates said that according to his interpretation of NCAA rules, when Mills played on the SDSU club team, it counted as a year of eligibility.

Commenting on the current situation, Scates said, "I never turned in to the NCAA. The (UCLA) assistant coach gave Pavlik the heads up."

With his college career rapidly coming to a close, Mills is frustrated that a decision has not been reached.

"I did all the right steps, but I'm being penalized," Mills said.

Pavlik said that in Penn State's appeal, it asked the NCAA to look at a recent decision regarding an unnamed George Mason player that was granted an additional year.

The player competed in a preseason match before asking to redshirt in January. When George Mason head coach Fred Chao told the player he could, a claim was filed stating that the player could not redshirt because he played a preseason match. George Mason petitioned and the NCAA reinstated the player.

The situation is different for Mills than the George Mason player, Chao said.

"It's apples and oranges, that's what it seems like to me," he said. "It needs to be looked at differently."

Chao went on to say that for him, it's a question of whether Mills was told the wrong thing. Chao said if the person that was supposed to be knowledgeable relayed Mills the wrong information, "It'd be a shame to punish the student."

Mills said he is frustrated that the NCAA isn't backing up its claim to take care of the student athlete and watch out for his best interest.

"I'm done with my college career," Mills said. "I'm screwed, basically."