Joe Paterno and two former Penn State women's basketball players offered their thoughts on the resignation of former Lady Lion head coach Rene Portland this weekend, admitting both surprise and disappointment.

Portland resigned last Wednesday night, ending a 27-year reign colored by success and controversy.

"I'm sure she's doing what she wants to do," Paterno said at an open practice Friday. "I hired Rene. I've always been very fond of Rene. I think she's done a great job. ... If she wants to get out of it, she wants to get out of it. I think it's up to her. She's done a great job."

Paterno was the athletic director in 1980 when he hired Portland away from Colorado to lead the fledgling women's basketball team. Portland amassed 606 wins at Penn State, building the program into one of the country's most thriving women's basketball factories.

But allegations of discrimination, culminating with former player Jen Harris' lawsuit and subsequent out-of-court settlement, have brought negative attention from those who said she created a hostile environment for her players and propelled anti-gay sentiments.

Still, it may be her impact on women's basketball in general that fans of the sport will remember most.

Bethany Irwin, head coach of the girls' basketball team at State College Area High School, played for Portland from 1985 to 1989 under her maiden name, Collins. She said Portland's supporters realize that Penn State lost one of the sport's most important people.

"What Rene's done for the whole university, to be quite honest, is great," Irwin said. "She was a people person, and I think that's what a coach needs to be. I think a coach needs to get out there and be a spokesperson for the sport."

Portland reached 21 NCAA tournaments, including the 2000 Final Four, as head coach and mentored some of the biggest names in the sport.

Kelly Mazzante, the Big Ten's all-time leading scorer, was caught off-guard when word of Portland's departure finally reached her -- in Slovakia.

"I don't think anyone knew that was gonna happen," Mazzante said in a phone interview yesterday. "And being overseas, I have to check the Internet to find out what's going on."

Mazzante, who was recently voted MVP of the Slovakian women's league as a guard for K Cero V.O.D.S. Kosice, hasn't talked to Portland since the announcement, and past conversations concentrated only on basketball, offering no indication that the coach was planning to leave.

Mazzante said she could not predict who Portland's successor might be but offered a familiar name as a possible applicant.

"I'm sure [former Lady Lion] Suzie [McConnell Serio] is probably the top candidate," Mazzante said. "But you're gonna hear a lot of names thrown around."