Penn State may be losing more than just a coa ch with Rene Portland's resignation -- one recruit set to join the Lady Lions next season will wait a bit before deciding to uphold her commitment, her coach said yesterday.

Julia Troegle, a 6-foot-2 forward from Villa Maria Academy, wants to see how Penn State handles the resignation of the 27-year Lady Lion head coach. She wants to ensure that the university remains committed to the women's basketball program, her high school head coach, Kathy McCartney, said.

"We've spoken at length," McCartney said. "We're playing the state championship on Saturday, and she's going to see what Penn State does and wait for them to make a decision ... Is there a chance [she backs out of the scholarship]? Absolutely. She's taking a wait-and-see attitude. She's very sad. She had a very nice connection with Rene."

In fact, Portland attended Villa Maria, which is located in suburban Philadelphia. McCartney said the entire school has been swept with the news. She described the scene at school, with people asking questions like "Did you hear the news?" "Do you know what happened?"

"I would say that the Villa Maria community, we follow our grads," she said.

Troegle and the Villa Maria basketball team will be in State College this weekend, taking on Hopewell in the PIAA Class AAA finals at 6 p.m. tomorrow in the Bryce Jordan Center. But McCarthey said Troegle will not be available to the media.

"She's a kid, and she's going to get in the middle of political cat fight in State College, and I don't want her to be a part of that," she said.

But if Troegle wants to renege on her scholarship, she may be out of luck. The National Letter of Intent, a uniform letter that athletes sign when committing during the signing period, does not leave room to renege if a coach leaves the program. Troegle signed the letter of intent during the early signing period.

"I understand I have signed this NLI with the institution and not for a particular sport or individual," it states. "If the coach leaves the institution or the sports program, I remain bound by the provisions of this NLI. I understand it is not uncommon for a coach to leave his or her coaching position."

Once a letter of intent is signed, an athlete must file an appeal or be released from the binding agreement by the university.

"We have not had a chance, that I'm aware of, since the announcement last night to talk to the three recruits," Penn State athletic director Tim Curley said yesterday. "I believe that the coaching staff and Rene, I think, spoke to them directly, to give them her decision. It is my hope that later today and tomorrow we will be able to make contact with all three and encourage them to come to Penn State and become part of a program here at Penn State."

Calls to the coaches of the other recruits, Janessa Wolff and Evelyn Lewis, were not returned yesterday.