BOSTON (AP) -Boston College center Sean Williams and forward Akida McLain, both suspended earlier this season, have been dismissed permanently from the program because of an unspecified violation of team rules, the school said Wednesday night.

In a statement, coach Al Skinner and athletic director Gene DeFilippo refused to comment on the players' specific conduct.

School spokesman Christopher Cameron declined to comment further, but said the dismissals do not affect the players' scholarships or academic standing at the school.

Williams was suspended for the first two games of the season for an unspecified violation of team rules; McLain for nine.

The 6-foot-10 Williams, third among shot blockers in the NCAA, started 15 games this season, averaging 12.1 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.0 blocks per game. The junior had 19 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocks in an 84-66 loss at No. 6 Kansas on Dec. 23.

The 6-8 McLain averaged 2.0 points and 1.5 rebounds in two games. The junior missed six games because of an ankle injury.

Boston College (13-4, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) plays at No. 19 Clemson on Saturday. The Eagles have won their last six games.

Williams, a Houston native who played his senior year at Mansfield H.S. in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, was suspended from the Boston College team for about seven months in May 2005 after a campus arrest for marijuana possession.

To resolve the case, Williams spent 90 days in a Houston drug rehabilitation program run by former NBA star John Lucas. He also was warned that he would be randomly drug-tested for the rest of his time at Boston College.

McLain is from Pittsburgh.

Calls to two phone listings under Sean Williams in Boston and near the Boston College campus were not immediately returned. Several other listings were unpublished. There was no phone listing for McLain.