We were 17 minutes into the press conference before someone finally mentioned the 3,000-pound elephant tap dancing on the dais.

It was quite the distinguished affair, actually. Never in four years covering sports at this university had I seen so many suits intently focused on a microphone.

You couldn't count the number of times words like "values" or "ideals" were launched from the mouths of Penn State President Graham Spanier and Athletic Director Tim Curley.

Of course the news was Coquese Washington being hired as the next Penn State women's basketball coach, a transaction that hasn't been made in 27 years. But in journalism we would call the previous sentence "burying the lead."

Forget that Washington, a 36-year-old black woman from Flint, Mich., is only the second African American varsity head coach hired in the history of Penn State athletics. Forget that professionally she won a WNBA Championship as the starting point guard for the Houston Comets in 2000. Never mind that she is a lawyer who helped establish the first collective bargaining agreement for the WNBA Players Association, a deal that's still in place today.

No, the lead -- the elephant -- is that Coquese Washington will replace Maureen "Rene" Portland, a woman who stepped to her own beat for nearly three decades, a woman whose on-court success dwindled in recent years and whose off the court drama encapsulated the autumn of her Penn State career.

Yesterday, the lead was everyone in and around the "new" Lady Lions program showcasing a united front uncommon since the century's turn. That much was evident the moment Coquese and her entourage entered Beaver Stadium's press room.

Where was Spanier one month ago, as he was yesterday, to make an opening statement at Portland's resignation? Why wasn't the entire Lady Lions team there, as it was yesterday, to publicly bid Portland farewell? Where was Portland for that matter, who didn't bother to show or speak at her own goodbye.

Portland left Penn State with far less bombast than Washington entered with. And collectively, everyone said plenty without saying anything at all.

Curley, without mentioning Portland, boldly proclaimed the new direction of women's basketball here.

"Certain people can really do well here and we have a certain set of values that we're gonna live by. It's all about fit," Curley said.

I don't need an interpreter to help me read through lines. Though Coquese admitted the Penn State opening was the only one she was actively pursuing, understand it was not her who made the first move. Her basketball background suggests she knows the sport. But she has never been a head coach. And yes, at some point everyone deserves a crack, especially blacks who historically have not received head-coaching opportunities at Penn State. But this move dealt with more than just basketball.

More than anything, this hire was about Penn State athletics, struggling with image issues, trying to "get it right."

Nowadays, you can't say Rene Portland without mentioning Jen Harris. You can't talk about Penn State football without bringing up that "incident" at an apartment. You can't think of the wrestling team without wondering what those alleged hazing photos looked like.

This athletic department needed a Kodak moment, and the thing Washington had going for her was she is far from Portland, and aside from astute women's basketball followers, she is a relative unknown.

And it won't be an easy transition. Though Portland never won an NCAA Championship, she maintained a level of respectability on the court for a long time, and only saw that decease of late. The people who loved Portland really loved her, most of them still supported her to the end.

"I think she's gonna need some time," Curley said in regard to Washington's transition. "We're all gonna have to let her have some time to meet everybody and really get a chance to have a better feel for this institution and our whole culture here. And let her add her special touch to it."

I hope Washington gets her time. I hope Penn State is as patient with her as it was with Portland, especially when deserved no patience at all.

"The only thing I can do is be me," Washington said. "I think we have outstanding fan support. I can't imagine that those fans will now turn their backs. I have no doubt that they're gonna continue to support the women's basketball program."