Ekaterina Kosminskaya probably shouldn't be here.
Not that she doesn't like Penn - she says she's "in love with the place." And as her coach and friends will tell you, she's definitely smart enough.
It's just that professional tennis prospects don't normally end up playing for the Quakers. Especially when they live in Moscow.
"Kate was one of the best tennis players in Russia," Penn women's coach Mike Dowd said. "She could get a scholarship and start for any team in the country."
But even though Penn finished last year ranked at No. 45, Kosminskaya is playing No. 1 singles for Dowd.
She arrived through a bizarre set of circumstances and with the influence of a varied cast of characters.
Those circumstances - particularly the ones surrounding her initial recruitment - have raised eyebrows. And as the star freshman continues to menace her Ivy League opponents, another question arises.
What if she really shouldn't be here?
'You've gotta get players'
The story of Kosminskaya's recruitment begins in 1996, when longtime Penn coach Cissie Leary succumbed to scleroderma.
Dowd, then Leary's 24-year-old assistant, was given the head job on an interim basis in December.
Robert Levy - a men's tennis alumnus from 1952 and a friend of the women's program - would step in for the year as assistant coach.
Or so he thought.
At the end of the spring 1997 season - Penn's 27th straight without a league title - he addressed the team at its end-of-year celebration.
"I said . 'good luck,'" Levy said. "And [the players] started to cry. So I had to stay for a few years."
Dowd would stay, too; he was hired as the permanent coach. And from then on, the program took on a different feel. Second or third in the Ivies was no longer considered good enough.
"I remember taking him to see [former Penn Athletic Director] Fred Shabel," Levy said. "I took him in and I said 'I want you to learn what it takes to win at Penn.'
"Fred said 'If you're gonna win, you've gotta get players.'"
Dowd, a tireless recruiter, did exactly that.
First-team All-Ivy players have poured through during his 10 years - including Anastasia Pozdniakova, Sanela Kunovac, Alice Pirsu and Yulia Rivelis.
"Mike just made the determination: we were going to be an Ivy League contender," Levy said. "We took a good program . and we just upped it a little bit."
But the young coach wasn't the only one keeping his eyes peeled for promising players. Levy was, too - and he was looking for talent where talent could be found.
"What I would do at Junior Wimbledon is not look for the finalists, because they're not coming to Penn," he said. "We're looking at . second-round losers, things like that."
Levy left his coaching post in 2003, but again, he stuck around. In August 2005, he showed up at the U. S. Junior Open.
Kosminskaya was a third-round loser.
A chance meeting
"Her coach was a friend of mine," Levy said. "I said 'She's very good!' and he said 'She's going pro, Bob.'"
But Kosminskaya's father, Petr Kosminsky, was intrigued.
"[Kosminsky] and I e-mailed each other a few times . he knew who I was, and he knew the Wharton School and everything," Levy said.
And Kosminskaya had a friend at Penn - Mikhail Bekker of the men's team, who was happy to tell Dowd about her.
So when she went to Miami to play a tournament in January 2006, she stopped in Philadelphia on her way back to Moscow.
Two days later, she was hooked.
"I met the team, I met the coach, I met [Levy] . I really liked it," she said.
The only hurdle that remained was getting in - not necessarily a slam dunk for someone who had only studied English at school in Russia.
"I e-mailed her father and I said 'Look . I don't care how good she is, we're not going to get her in unless she has marks,'" Levy said.
"'She's got to forget tennis for three months . and she's got to study English. You've got to go to the University of Moscow . get a tutor, and get her to work with her for three months.'"
Kosminskaya did that, and then some. She carried an English dictionary, which she'd use whenever she came across an unfamiliar word.
"That's the type of diligence she had," Dowd said.
It would pay off handsomely, as Kosminskaya aced the SATs and made it into Wharton. Just to be sure he had completely reeled in his catch, Dowd made a rare visit to Moscow.
"That's probably the third international trip I've taken in ten years," he said. "It's not something I do on a regular basis. I just wanted to let her and her family know that we were serious, and we were gonna take care of her in her four years here."
Kosminskaya is taking care of Dowd, too. The team hasn't won the league in five years, but it's on pace to do so now.
Puzzling conclusion
The problem for Penn is that Robert Levy isn't allowed to recruit.
Because he contributes time and money to the program (his name is on Penn's indoor tennis facility), the NCAA rulebook defines him as a "representative of athletics interests."
So the rules say he's prohibited from "making in-person, on- or off-campus recruiting contacts . with a prospective student-athlete or the prospective student-athlete's relatives or legal guardians."
But on this issue, Penn seems to have reached a different conclusion.
After The Daily Pennsylvanian made the transcript of Levy's remarks available to the Athletic Department, Levy and Dowd met with Assistant Athletic Director Mary DiStanislao.
DiStanislao concluded that Levy's exchange with Kosminsky was "not a violation."
"He responded to the father, answering . very general questions about American university admissions, and some more specific questions about Penn," she said.
DiStanislao thought the actual e-mail exchange was not as comprehensive or specific as Levy had claimed it was.
"[Levy] may get excited sometimes," Dowd said last week. "He may not say the right thing, and it might be misinterpreted."
Penn will not investigate the matter further, according to DiStanislao.
That does not necessarily mean that the issue is closed, although the NCAA will now have to pursue any investigation itself - a rarity, since most potential violations are self-reported.
DiStanislao said that if this were found to be a violation, it would be a "minor infraction." Punishments for such infractions could affect the athlete's eligibility or the program.
In the meantime.
Given Kosminskaya's affinity for Penn - and her connection to Bekker - she may have ended up here even if Levy had not been involved.
That's not lost on Levy, who insists he had "nothing to do with her coming."
Nonetheless, Penn will be keeping an eye on Levy's association with the program. DiStanislao suggested that the situation would be viewed with increased scrutiny.
For Levy, it may mean less involvement in the program to which he has devoted many years and many more dollars.
But as Kosminskaya helps lead Penn's formerly derelict program toward a resurgence, Levy may feel he's already made his mark.
"If anything happens to me, the program's not going to hell," he said.
"Believe me."
