Quarterback Tom Bill would not have received any special consideration from the University in disciplinary matters because he was an athlete, the assistant athletic director for football said yesterday.

Frank Rocco said Bill -- like any other student receiving three on-campus alcohol-related citations -- would be subject to disciplinary policies administered by the Office of Conduct Standards independent of the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics.

"That would certainly be something from the conduct standards office. And if that is the policy then I certainly wouldn't think that there'd be any deviance from that," Rocco said.

No officials, however, confirmed that Bill may have been suspended from the University because University Police Services cited him three times for alcohol-related violations.

The senior quarterback, who has one year of eligibility remaining, announced through a sports information press release last Friday that he was withdrawing from Penn State to enter an alcohol rehabilitation center.

Bill could not be reached for comment and there was no answer at his home in Flemington, N.J.

Director of Conduct Standards Donald T. Suit said that "about 99 percent" of students who are cited three times by University police for alcohol-related citations are suspended from the University.

Bill's third citation came about 10 months after the second. The amount of time between the suspensions could mean that Bill was still on probation when the third offense occurred.

A student under probation when a third offense occurs is more likely to receive a suspension, Suit said.

Coach Joe Paterno is recruiting and was unavailable for comment. But offensive coordinator Fran Ganter was unaware that three citations generally mean suspension for the student.

"No, I wasn't aware of that rule," Ganter said. "I did not know that was a policy. I don't know that (Bill) was suspended from the University."

Bill has been cited for alcohol-related violations by University police three times in the past three years: March 1987 for public drunkenness and disorderly conduct, November 1988 for underage drinking and last September for public drunkenness.

Officials maintain that Bill's withdrawal was voluntary. It is possible that Bill could have withdrawn before he could have received a suspension notice. Bill said in a press release Friday that he was withdrawing from school and entering a treatment center "on my own initiative."

"It's a big step in my life, especially in light of the fact that no particular or specific incident motivated me to do so," he said in the press release. "On the contrary, I wanted to take any precautionary measures necessary to prevent the problems that I faced last fall to reoccur."

Junior wide receiver David Daniels said yesterday that he didn't know if Bill had been suspended. But he added that either way, alcohol rehabilitation is a good step for Bill.

"He has to get his life together," Daniels said. "I mean, if you have . . . a problem like that, I think it should be taken care of before you continue to play football or even go to school, because it's kind of life-threatening, to a point.

"So I think he made a wise decision."