As a young athlete and graduate of Urbana High School, Zach Mills excelled far beyond his high school years as a gifted athlete in basketball and football. During his four-year basketball career, he was a four-year varsity starter and established and still maintained as of 2012 the school record for most career points and career rebounds. As a football player, Mills was the starting quarterback in the 1998 2-A state championship; he established a MPSSAA career record by passing for 5,638 yards and throwing 59 TD passes. He earned numerous recognitions from local, state, and national media. As a Penn State four-year starter, Mills set 18 offensive school records, ranked ninth All-Time in the Big Ten for career total yards, was selected three years as an All-Big-Ten player, and won numerous prestigious Penn State awards during his four-year career.