No University of Maryland scholarship men's basketball player who enrolled between 1997 and 2000 graduated within six years, according to NCAA graduation rates that were released yesterday.

Perhaps the most glaring figure in the NCAA's data was the zero percent graduation rate for Maryland's men's basketball team, which ranked last among the nation's 321 Division I programs. The second-worst program from a power conference was Iowa State, which ranked 315th with a 17 percent rate. Only one other men's basketball program in the ACC -- Clemson (31 percent) -- had a rate of less than 40 percent.

Anton Goff, Maryland's associate athletic director for academic support said, "I don't know if we're going to say we're embarrassed, but we're definitely concerned."

"I've graduated 42 players in 18 years," Coach Gary Williams said. "I feel it is completely false, the [zero] number. The guys who are playing in the NBA, are they wrong for taking advantage of their ability? Are these people failures? To say the majority of these people are not successful is completely wrong."