Athletic Department

College Park -- University of Maryland scholarship athletes recorded a 78 percent graduation success rate - the athletic department's highest in the past three years and above the national average - according to data released by the NCAA yesterday for athletes who entered school between 1997 and 2000 and graduated within the NCAA's six-year window. Though the Terps' GSR increased two percentage points from the previous two years, there were only two schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference - North Carolina State and Georgia Tech - with lower scores.

COLLEGE PARK -- Expansion of Byrd Stadium is set to begin in December, but athletic department officials at Maryland yesterday revealed a grand plan that would ultimately swell stadium capacity to about 60,000 and include other changes intended to lure the nation's top talent and give the entire program a facelift. The first phase of expansion - scheduled to be completed by August 2010 - includes 64 swanky suites with flat-screen televisions, food services, and indoor and outdoor seating.

Maryland has extended the contract of athletic director Debbie Yow for two years through 2004, the university announced yesterday."Debbie Yow is doing a terrific job managing one of the most complex and most successful athletic programs in the nation," said Maryland president C. D. Mote Jr."She has excelled in fiscal management, competitive results and in compliance. More importantly, she has excelled as a leader, ensuring that we can take great pride in all the coaches and athletes who represent the University of Maryland."

The Maryland Stadium Authority and the University of Maryland College Park have reached agreement on the target price of a proposed arena for the campus: $90 million.The proposed 17,000-seat building would replace 43-year-old Cole Field House, home court for the Terps.Cost estimates for the project have ranged from $106 million, which the stadium authority originally suggested, to $80.8 million, which the college thought it could afford. The university contracted with the stadium authority to oversee building the arena.

Louis W. Ezrick lost two of his front teeth at a concert on May 1, and he blames Maryland football player Eric Barton, who is facing a felony first-degree assault charge that carries a maximum prison sentence of 25 years.Other charges, reported yesterday by the Washington Post, include two second-degree assault charges and two reckless endangerment charges stemming from alleged attacks on Ezrick and Christopher F. Giordano, both of Brooklyn, N.Y., during the University of Maryland's Art Attack concert.

Baltimore businessman Barry P. Gossett has donated $1 million to the University of Maryland athletic department, a gift that ranks among the top three the department has received in the past 10 years.Gossett is chairman of the board of Williams Scotsman Inc., which leases and sells mobile office and modular structures.The athletic department will name its academic support unit the Gossett Academic Support and Career Development Center for Terrapin Student-Athletes. The gift was designated for facility endowment, including the possibility of a new arena, and for scholarship endowment.

The University of Maryland athletic department has turned a profit for the third consecutive year, but fell $200,000 short of its goal for the 1997 fiscal year, an athletic department official said yesterday.The official report will be released in mid-July, but associate athletic director Jamie Pollard said the department anticipates a $300,000 profit.The goal of $500,000 was not reached because of a major decline in football ticket sales in addition to paying off the final year of fired football coach Mark Duffner's contract, Pollard said.

COLLEGE PARK -- A decision on whether Maryland women's basketball coach Chris Weller will return may not come until after students return from spring break at the end of next week.Athletic department officials met again with players yesterday, then convened a 20-minute meeting in the team's locker room with the team and Weller last night before the parties dispersed around 6: 30 p.m.None of the participants provided comment, but sources said the players were told the matter would be decided during spring vacation, which begins after classes today.

Maryland athletic department officials are expected to reach a decision tomorrow regarding complaints from disgruntled members of the women's basketball team.Sources close to the team said assistant athletic director Patricia Nicol, who supervises the women's basketball team, met with coach Chris Weller and the team yesterday and pledged that the matter would be settled by tomorrow.Two weeks ago, six Maryland players presented a list of complaints about the program to Nicol and other athletic department officials, who said they would wait until the season was over to address their concerns.

Maryland women's basketball coach Chris Weller, whose program is being reviewed by university officials following complaints from players, denied she has mistreated players and said she will not resign.Weller, who has been Maryland's coach for 22 years, said last night that while she is "tough," she has "never set out to harm a student-athlete.""I am out to help them realize their greatness," she said. "I think I've had excellent student-athletes and they have done extraordinary things. I want them to expect that in themselves.

COLLEGE PARK -- The University of Maryland would consider eliminating sports teams if necessary to safeguard its athletic program's economic health, an internal report says. The report, overseen by the athletic department and adopted by director of athletics Deborah Yow and a campus advisory group, outlines a series of goals and initiatives designed to guarantee the program's stability beyond the recession and a recent series of budget cuts. A section titled "Financial Stability" offers three methods for keeping the program on track during the next five years - cut expenses and find new revenue, scale back selected sports, or eliminate an undefined number of teams.

COLLEGE PARK -- For years, the University of Maryland has chartered flights to carry the football team to games at Duke and the other schools in North Carolina. But not this season. In one of many telling symptoms of the rough economy on college athletics, the Terps will travel by bus to and from Duke - a 270-mile trip - for the Oct. 24 game. The university estimates the savings at $80,000. The athletic department is also exploring taking buses one way - and flying the other - for games at Wake Forest on Oct. 10 and North Carolina State on Nov. 7, administrators said in interviews.

COLLEGE PARK -The chants began before the Miami game Jan. 31. "We love Gary," fans at Comcast Center shouted. "Gary, Gary, Gary." Maryland coach Gary Williams has long had a sizable fan base. Since the coach's highly publicized infighting with the athletic department last month over two former recruits, his supporters - as well as his critics - have grown increasingly vocal in public forums such as message groups, blogs and talk radio. Today's Virginia Tech game presents another opportunity for fans to vent - louder than usual - their strongly held feelings about the coach.

First things first: To those who say Maryland basketball has hit rock bottom, does June 19, 1986, mean nothing to you? (It should: It's the day Len Bias died.) Try to keep things in perspective, as bad as the past few days have been. These, however, should be the final months of the Gary Williams era at Maryland. By mutual consent, with some dignity and appreciation, if possible. But after the war of words between Williams and the athletic department - and the needlessly personal nature of it - how can Williams come back after this season?

Florida State's president is blaming the athletic department for a less-than-candid response to the test-taking scandal that might involve as many as 50 students. Among the accusations is that at least one academic tutor was giving answers to the questions of a music course exam while the test was in progress and that tutors took tests for athletes. But here's the best part. The pool of questions for the exams didn't change from semester to semester, said college president T.K. Wetherell.

College Park -- University of Maryland scholarship athletes recorded a 78 percent graduation success rate - the athletic department's highest in the past three years and above the national average - according to data released by the NCAA yesterday for athletes who entered school between 1997 and 2000 and graduated within the NCAA's six-year window. Though the Terps' GSR increased two percentage points from the previous two years, there were only two schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference - North Carolina State and Georgia Tech - with lower scores.

COLLEGE PARK -- Expansion of Byrd Stadium is set to begin in December, but athletic department officials at Maryland yesterday revealed a grand plan that would ultimately swell stadium capacity to about 60,000 and include other changes intended to lure the nation's top talent and give the entire program a facelift. The first phase of expansion - scheduled to be completed by August 2010 - includes 64 swanky suites with flat-screen televisions, food services, and indoor and outdoor seating.

University of Maryland athletic director Debbie Yow signed a contract extension yesterday that guarantees her $350,000 per year through 2013, she confirmed. Yow's previous contract would not have expired until August 2010, but early negotiations in the athletic department are common, she said. Financial bonuses based on academic achievement and "competitive excellence" are included in the contract, Yow said, but details were not available yesterday. "I'm fully focused on all the goals we have in front of us," said Yow, who is in her 13th year as head of the department.

A group of University of Maryland athletes approached athletic department officials recently to express concerns about their housing. They were living off-campus and were worried about security because the front door of their apartment building was often found propped open. The students were told to "talk to your parents, talk to your landlord," said Kathleen Worthington, executive senior associate athletic director. But beyond inviting them to apply for campus housing, there was little else the athletic department could do. The example reflects the limitations on universities that want to keep their athletes safe, but are bound -- in part by NCAA rules -- to allow them the same housing options as other students.

WASHINGTON -- Division I college sports programs need to curtail their big-spending habits or risk compromising their academic missions, according to a new NCAA report. It found that some schools' athletic spending increases are outpacing those of higher education by two to three times. The report, urging a new period of "moderation," was compiled by 50 college and university chancellors and presidents, including Towson president Robert Caret. Although the report found no looming financial crisis, it said evidence suggests that continued sports budget increases may create mammoth, "unsustainable" athletic programs that could threaten schools' values.