The credentials are there, for sure — 553 career coaching wins, 22 postseason appearances, 16 of those in the NCAA tournament — but while winning is one of the things Coach Portland does best, her impact on the school and the sport is measured in a number of other ways.
A player, a pioneer, a mentor, a dedicated wife and husband, and a coaching legend — Rene Portland is all of these.
In the beginning
In 1980, Joe Paterno, who then served as Penn State's athletic director as well as head football coach, hired a young but remarkably successful coach to take control of the Lady Lion basketball team.
"When I had something to do with hiring Rene, she came across as somebody that would be very dynamic," Paterno said. "I felt she would fit in here at Penn State for the things that we wanted and she's done that very, very well."
Even before her Penn State career kicked off, Portland knew how to win. In fact, she thrived on it. Portland was part of three national championship teams during her four years at Immaculata College, and one year later achieved a record of 23-5 with the St. Joseph Hawks in her rookie season as a coach. After another successful campaign at St. Joe's, Portland moved to the University of Colorado, where she again had back-to-back winning seasons. She hit the ground running when she replaced Pat Meiser at Penn State following the 1979-80 season, and has never looked back.
"For awhile I was in the right place at the right time," Portland said. "I went to a high school that was very successful, I went to a college that was extremely successful, and then my career took off."
That career is the seventh most successful in NCAA history, and it has helped thrust women's basketball into the forefront of the 29 varsity sports at Penn State.
"She's very energetic, very passionate about the sport of women's basketball, very passionate about women's athletics and where the future of women's athletics is going," said Penn State athletic director Tim Curley.
From the outhouse. . .
One of Portland's favorite expressions, one that is very applicable to the Lady Lions, is "going from the outhouse to the penthouse." When Portland took the reins from Meiser, the Penn State program was one on the rise. During Meiser's first season, in 1974, the Lady Lions played just 14 games. During her last, the team went 20-14.
"A lot of the groundbreaking was done at Penn State before I even came here," Portland said. "We had a great coach in Patty Meiser before me, we've had three or four great coaches before me. I heard it was a team that could win."
The Lady Lions were winning, but not too many people were watching. Penn State played in the White Building (capacity: 800), and didn't move to the cozy confines of Rec Hall full-time until the 1979-80 season.
"She's seen it grow from maybe a few hundred people to thousands in the stands," said Portland's husband, John, who has been with Rene throughout her journey to the 'penthouse'.
There were no ESPN telecasts, no large corporate sponsorships, and the style of play was a far cry from the uptempo, physically demanding women's game of today.
"The athletes themselves have really changed," Portland said. "I don't know if you could even use the word 'athlete' to describe women many years ago.
"The commitments from the universities have really changed as well, and the appreciation of the general public, too."
John Portland has noticed changes off the court as well.
"The time aspect is much greater now," he said. "When she was at St. Joe's it was just part time, then there was a big step up at Colorado, and then Penn State. Not only that, but for us as a family, there has been increased public awareness."
Women's basketball now ranks behind only Paterno's football squad in Happy Valley. The Bryce Jordan Center is filled with over 5,000 fans every time the Lady Lions play, and Penn State has made 127 national television appearances since 1989. Portland has been there through it all.
"She started at the ground level," Curley said. "I think a lot of coaches see her as someone who's been there when things weren't the way they are today."
To the penthouse. . .
"I don't know if we're in the penthouse, but we're certainly heading in the right direction," Portland said.
And have been for quite some time. About the only item absent from Portland's lengthy résumé is a national title. She came tantalizingly close last season, taking the Lady Lions to their first Final Four in a setting that couldn't have been written better for a Hollywood script. Twenty-five years after leaving Immaculata, Portland returned home to Philadelphia with a hungry Lady Lion team and a chance to win it all in front of friends and family.
"You always wonder if there's divine intervention in your life," Portland said. "And I think that truly was divine intervention, that it was Philadelphia, near my home, with so many players from Philadelphia and assistant coaches from Philadelphia."
Unfortunately, Connecticut women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma also had basketball beginnings in the Philadelphia area, and his homecoming proved to be more pleasant than Portland's. The Huskies defeated the Lady Lions in the national semifinal, 89-67, and went on to win the championship.
Nonetheless, the experience was memorable for Portland and her family.
"It's hard to say what your favorite thing is," she said. "But that memory is one that brings a smile to my face and certainly one that gives so much more credence to your career."
"It was pretty amazing," John said. "That's where both of us still have family, and it was pretty special that we got to go down there and get our families involved."
Also happy for Portland was one of her teammates on those championship teams at Immaculata, current Illinois women's basketball coach Theresa Grentz.
"I was thrilled. And I said last year, 'If I can't get there, I hope she can.' That was my statement," Grentz said. "And when she made it, I was absolutely thrilled for her."
On the road
Traveling is as much a part of basketball in the Big Ten as a high pick-and-roll. Portland spends the vast majority of her time away from home during the season, and coaches U.S. Junior National teams over the summers (although she took this past summer off, for the first time in four years).
Being out of the house for extended periods of time is not pleasant, but after 25 years, the Portland clan has it down to a science.
"I think we've been doing it so long that the adjustment hasn't been that great," John said. "We all enjoy the game, the traveling, we treat it like a big family, it's a lot of fun to be with the girls."
Rene has credited much of her success to the support of her family, and says both John and her three children — Christine (who played for the Lady Lions from 1996-99), John Jr. (a senior at Penn State) and Stephen — understand the sacrifices the profession demands.
"It's just been such a valuable thing to my family," Portland said. "Jobs like this usually rip families apart, and it sort of keeps my family together."
Making the grade
Portland's extended family is her players, past and present. Along with the tight relationship she has with former Lady Lions, Portland is also a friend as well as a leader to her current team.
"She treats the kids as if they're her own kids," John said. "When they need a kick in the butt or a hug, she gives it to them."
But Portland's top priority is making sure her players perform as well in the classroom as on the court. She credits the university with helping student-athletes do just that.
"There's a wonderful marriage between academics and athletics. I don't know who started it, but that person should be commended," she said. "There's a mutual respect, and a promise between the academic and athletic part of Penn State, and not too many other schools can do that.
"I do think there's a complete package here at Penn State. The academic support systems here are absolutely incredible for the student-athletes."
Happy Valley is where the heart is
The relationship between the two programs is one of the many reasons that Portland has chosen to call State College her home for 20 years.
And her stay is far from over.
"I got lots left in me, I really do," she said. "People say, 'You've been coaching 25 years', but I'm only 47 years old. The fact that I've been able to be part of a growth process of the sport as well as the university, it would be very hard for me to give it up anytime soon."
When that day does come, and Portland closes the book on her fantastic coaching career, it will most likely be at Penn State.
"Penn State's been extremely good to her and the family as a whole," John said. "There's been so many memories."
"When Coach Paterno hired her, he described her to me as somebody that was going to be very loyal, very committed to the institution and very dedicated to her players and former players," Curley said. "And those are the things I've seen in her career here at Penn State."
And they are the things that will ensure that those phone calls from former players will continue, even after Portland's time on the sideline is finished.
