Legal counsel for former Penn State women's basketball player Jen Harris spoke with a Penn State attorney via teleconference yesterday and reiterated its promise to file a lawsuit if remarks made about its client in a press release are not retracted by today.

Penn State officials, however, said it is the constitutional right of women's basketball coach Rene Portland to respond to Harris' allegations of anti-lesbian discrimination and that a retraction is not necessary.

A letter sent to Penn State President Graham Spanier last week by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) on Harris' behalf demanded the university take action against Portland's alleged "systematic homophobia." It said Harris, who has said she is not a lesbian, was harassed by Portland to change her looks and kicked off the team because she was believed to be a lesbian.

In her statement sent via university e-mail Friday, Portland said it was Harris' "disrespectful, profane and belligerent behavior toward coaches and teammates" that led to an early departure from the team.

The statement also cited Harris' academic record as a reason for dismissal. According to the NCLR, Harris had a grade point average of about 3.0 when she left the university. NCAA and Big Ten regulations require players to have at least a 2.0.

The gay-rights advocacy group has called Portland's statements "patently false" and threatened to add defamation of character to any lawsuit, as well as harassment.

During the teleconference, NCLR legal counsel Karen Doering and Penn State attorney Wendell Courtney discussed "confidential settlement issues" and the possibility of meeting face to face, which Doering said would not be needed if Portland's statements aren't retracted. Courtney didn't return calls yesterday.

Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said Portland stands behind Penn State's policy of non-discrimination based on sexual orientation, a policy he called "ahead of the curve."

The sexual orientation clause was added to the policy in 1991, 11 days after a report in The Philadelphia Inquirer quoted former Lady Lions alleging Portland discriminated against lesbians in recruiting. In a 1986 Chicago Sun-Times article, Portland said of lesbian activity in sports, "I will not have it in my program."

"I know newspapers have speculated [why the clause was added], but it's all part of someone's imagination," Mahon said. "We did it because we thought it was right."

Mahon said Portland had every right to respond the way she did, and it was not against university policy for her to make a statement. "The constitution hasn't changed since yesterday, has it?" Mahon said.

Doering said Portland's statement violated laws protecting discrimination victims from defamatory retaliation and that she is unsure whether Portland's statements were personal or university-sanctioned.

Mahon said the university hopes to meet face to face with Harris' counsel. He said the NCLR has agreed to share information with Penn State.