Blue White Illustrated

Rene Portland, the longtime Penn State women's basketball coach who led the Lady Lions to their only Final Four appear- ance in 2000, died July 22 in Tannersville, Pa., after a three-year battle with peritoneal cancer. She was 65. Portland's Penn State career began in 1980 when she became the first and only coach to be hired by Joe Paterno during his tenure as ath- letic director, and it ended in 2007 following a lawsuit brought by a former player and a subsequent clash with the university's administration. In between, the Broomall, Pa., native compiled a 606-236 overall record with the Lady Lions, bring- ing her career mark to 693-265 over 31 seasons as a collegiate head coach. Port- land was only the ninth coach in NCAA Division I history to record 600 wins at one institution and is No. 20 on the all- time Division I coaching victories list. "The Penn State Athletics family ex- tends our deepest sympathies and heart- felt condolences to the family and friends of Coach Portland," athletic director Sandy Barbour said. "She made a signifi- cant impact on women's basketball, Penn State Athletics and the State College and Lady Lion Basketball communities." Current Lady Lion coach Coquese Washington praised her predecessor's role in developing the program into one of the best in the nation. "Rene Portland was one of the most successful coaches in the history of our game and elevated Penn State Lady Lion Basketball to one of the nation's elite programs," Washington said. "It was an honor to take over the program that she gave so much of her life to. No question, our game would not be where it is today without the contribu- tions of Rene Portland." The Lady Lions made 21 NCAA tourna- ment appearances under Portland, ad- vancing to the 2000 Final Four in Philadelphia and winning the 1998 WNIT. The Lady Lions advanced to the Sweet 16 on 11 occasions and reached the Elite Eight four times under Portland's direction. Portland was a two-time WBCA national Coach of the Year and a four-time Big Ten Coach of the Year selection. After beginning Big Ten play in 1992- 93, Penn State claimed five regular-sea- son conference titles and two tournament titles during Portland's tenure. She also guided the Lady Lions to a pair of regular-season Atlantic 10 crowns and five A-10 tournament titles. During the 1990-91 season, the Lady Lions earned the program's first-ever No. 1 ranking, becoming the first women's basketball program from the Northeast to claim the No. 1 spot. That season ended in disappointment, as the Lady Lions were upset at Rec Hall by James Madison, 73-71, in their NCAA tour- nament opener. There were other early- round setbacks, as Georgetown came away with a 68-67 victory in 1993, and North Carolina State prevailed 76-74 on a coast- to-coast layup in the final seconds in 1995. Both of those games were at Rec Hall on the tournament's opening weekend. But in 2000, with a team anchored by Big Ten Player of the Year Helen Darling, the Lady Lions broke through. After edg- ing Iowa State, 66-65, in the regional semifinals in Kansas City, they thrashed Louisiana Tech, 86-65, to earn a spot in the Final Four. Even though their run ended with an 89-67 loss to Connecticut in the semifinals, it was – and still is – Penn State's winningest season, as the Lady Lions went 30-5, including a 15-1 mark in Big Ten play and an appearance in the conference title game against Purdue. Portland's tenure at Penn State ended in 2007 following a 15-16 season and a clash with the university's administra- tion stemming from a lawsuit brought by former player Jennifer Harris alleging that the coach discriminated against players she suspected were gay. Portland was fined $10,000 after the university determined that she had violated its an- tidiscrimination policy. She disputed the findings of Penn State's internal in- vestigation, calling them "flawed," and shortly after agreeing to a confidential have the option of signing him to a new contract in 2019-2020. In the meantime, he will benefit from the coaching of a basketball legend. Fiat Torino, which is based in Turin, Italy, recently hired Larry Brown as head coach. Brown is the only coach to win NBA and NCAA championships, direct- ing the Detroit Pistons to the 2004 NBA crown and Kansas to the 1988 NCAA title. Carr was a two-year letterwinner for Penn State from 2016-17 and helped lead the Nittany Lions to the 2018 National Invitation Tournament championship and 26 wins, the second-highest total in program history. The Philadelphia native became the first Nittany Lion men's basketball sophomore to reach the 1,000 career-point mark. The team's leading scorer in both his freshman and sophomore campaigns, Carr set records for assists by a freshman (139), points by a sophomore (725) and had the most double-figure scoring games (26) by a freshman. He completed his career ranked 23rd on the Nittany Lions' all-time scoring list with 1,161 points. A first-team All-Big Ten selection as a sophomore, Carr also earned first-team All-District honors from the U.S. Basket- ball Writers Association and the National Association of Basketball Coaches this past season. The club Auxilium Pallacanestro Torino was founded in 1974 and won its first Ital- ian Basketball Cup in 2018. ■ Rene Portland | Built elite women's basketball program at PSU O B I T U A R Y PORTLAND

• Cover