Colorado seniors Marcus Hall and Richard Roby, like most players who use up all of their college eligibility these days, will have to take the road less traveled to the NBA.

The league's executives and scouts prefer "upside" and "potential" over maturity and experience.

Last year 32 underclassmen declared for the NBA draft. In 2008, thanks to an impressive list of super freshmen (see Beasley, Michael and Rose, Derrick) and the league's decision to pay for workout and travel costs, the number has soared to 51.

NBAdraft.net projects 11 freshmen and eight sophomores will be selected in the first round this June. Add a handful of promising foreign players to the mix and there simply aren't any guarantees -- or guaranteed first-round contracts -- left for the seniors.

"It seems like everyone who has ever scored in double figures is entering this draft," Marty Blake, the longtime director of scouting for the NBA, said during an interview with the Camera on Tuesday. "The list for Orlando comes out Thursday and there's going to be 150 names on it, which is the most we've ever had."

The NBA's top pre-draft camp will be held May 27-30 in Orlando. Executives and scouts from all 30 teams will be there scouring the courts for talent.Hall, despite a strong performance at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament earlier this month, probably will not be invited to Orlando. Roby, currently projected as a second-round possibility, may have jeopardized his invitation after pulling out of the Portsmouth event at the last minute.

"Somebody will give Hall a look," said Blake, who helped get CU's point guard invited to Portsmouth after watching him at the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. "I saw him score 25 points and he was playing against some good players. He showed that he belongs."

Blake can rattle off story after story of long shots who have overcome the stigma of not getting drafted and eventually found their way into the NBA. Hall reminds him of Anthony Carter -- both players are 6-2 and about 190 pounds -- who went undrafted out of Hawaii and just finished his ninth NBA season as the Denver Nuggets' starting point guard.

"He's quick and he's tough," Blake said of Hall, who will likely have to play overseas or in the D-League before getting an opportunity to crack an NBA roster.

Roby, the half-brother of Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin, obviously has the talent to play in the NBA. He left CU as the program's all-time leading scorer and led the team in scoring (17.0 ppg) and rebounding (6.7 rpg) last season.

But Blake said Roby needs to reimburse the Portsmouth tournament for his airline ticket before being considered for Orlando.

"Not showing up for Portsmouth was a mistake," Blake said. "An agent probably told him to do that. ... But he's got a chance. It's up to him."

Three Kansas players -- Darnell Jackson, Sasha Kaun and Russell Robinson -- also pulled out of the Portsmouth stop on the pre-draft circuit. NBAdraft.net has Kaun (58th) and Jackson (60th) being taken at the bottom of the second round and Robinson not even getting selected in its latest mock draft.

For what it's worth, on Tuesday the Web site had Roby projected as a second-round pick (38th overall) by the Charlotte Bobcats. The fact that the gifted senior bought into Jeff Bzdelik's system and showed improvement will help him because CU's head coach is still very well respected in the NBA.

"Roby played a lot better on offense than on defense," Blake said. "But overall, he certainly played a lot better under the new coach than he did previously."

The NBA draft will be held June 26 at Madison Square Garden in New York.