Marty Blake has been evaluating basketball talent for half a century, but he said early entrants have made the unpredictable field of scouting even more difficult.

Blake, who serves as the National Basketball Association's director of scouting, has watched the hardship entries of the early 1970s turn into a floodgate of players bolting for the league.

In 1990, just 14 underclassmen ? all of whom played some college basketball ? entered the draft. As of yesterday afternoon, 34 underclassmen had publicly declared for this year's draft. The deadline to declare was last night at 11:59 p.m. The league will release its complete list this week.

"This is going to be the toughest draft to analyze, and I've been doing this 52 years," Blake said.
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Blake does not have a problem with high school players turning pro. He said most of them play so many games during the spring and summer that they are able to develop their games faster.

"People put too much emphasis on the five or six high school players that can play coming out," he said. "We're drafting on potential, but we've been drafting on potential all the time, whether it's 2004 or 1984."

That is not to say Blake would encourage just anybody to turn pro. When the pre-draft camp starts June 8, he said the majority of the 65 or so players invited will find out they are not cut out for the NBA. Underclassmen who haven't signed with an agent have until June 17 to withdraw their names from the June 24 draft if they would like to retain their NCAA eligibility.

"We'll certainly advise a lot of guys if they didn't play well to go back to school," Blake said.

But he also figured there would be players such as Randolph, who left Michigan State after one season, as being someone who just needs time. He rode Portland's bench for two seasons, but he earned the NBA's Most Improved Player award this season.

Blake warned that teams have to be both cautious and patient with underclassmen. The trend will not stop any time soon.

This year's draft could mark another watershed event for underclassmen. It would be the first time a point guard has made the jump from high school in Telfair or Duke signee Shaun Livingston.

"They're getting younger. We're a developmental league," Blake said. "The problem is we're all just victims of immediate gratification syndrome. We have to develop guys."