Always the bridesmaid and never the bride. That's what Penn State must feel like, as it lost out again when it came time to recruit Michelle Marciniak.

A little over a year ago, the 5-foot-9-inch guard from Allentown Central Catholic High School was choosing colleges. Upon her graduation, Penn State was snubbed in favor of Notre Dame. However, the women's basketball team had another chance as Marciniak announced a week ago that she was transferring.

The former USA Today Player of the Year had narrowed her choices to the Lady Lions and Tennessee and on Tuesday, announced that she's going to give the Volunteers a try.

"Actually, Tennessee was my first choice," Marciniak said. "I talked with the coach (Pat Summitt) and it's a good situation."

Marciniak, winner of the Naismith Player of the Year award as a senior at Allentown, leaves the Irish amid rumors that she had problems with Coach Muffet McGraw over playing time.

Remaining the diplomat throughout her decision period, Marciniak said she was not leaving a negative situation, just one that didn't quite fit in with her.

"It was a lot of things combined," Marciniak said. "Notre Dame is a great school, it was just not the right school for me. It was nothing wrong, it just wasn't right."

In her first season at Notre Dame, Marciniak averaged 12.2 points per game in just under 27 minutes.

But the freshman did have plenty of rookie mistakes. She shot only 40 percent from the field and a dismal 11-of-54 from the 3-point line.

Many sources at Notre Dame believed that Marciniak became angry at becoming a reserve after starting 16 games early in the season, thus leading to her transfer. Some of her teammates reportedly accused Marciniak of being a selfish player who was slow on defense and only wanted to score.

Marciniak wants to put aside those theories and said she believes her performance this season was due to the fact that she worried about whether she had chosen the right school -- not that she feuded with McGraw.

"The season had its ups and downs," Marciniak said. "I wasn't satisfied in any way with it and I could have done better. Maybe if things had worked out -- if the thought of 'if only I was happier' hadn't kept popping in my head --then maybe I would've played better."

Her father, Walter, said that his daughter just made the wrong decision in picking a school.

"Michelle thought Notre Dame was the school that would have been right for her," he said. "She wanted to try to build a program."

The Irish finished the year at 14-16 and won their conference tournament, only to lose in the first round of the NCAA tournament to UCLA.

"I found out from this year that I want to win," Marciniak said. "I don't particularly like losing. I know at Tennessee I'll be with a winning program."

Notre Dame released Marciniak from her scholarship and she will be eligible to play for Tennessee after sitting out next season.

Due to NCAA rules regarding recruitment, Summitt could not comment on Marciniak before the April 15 signing date.