ESPN Men's Basketball

Colorado guard Richard Roby is following half-brother Kenyon Martin to the NBA. He's just taking a different path.

Unlike the Denver Nuggets forward who spent four years at Cincinnati, Roby said Tuesday that he'll forgo his final two seasons of college eligibility and declare for the upcoming NBA draft.

However, Roby is hedging his bets: He won't sign with an agent, allowing him to return to school should he determine he wouldn't go high enough in the June 28 draft to make an early exit worth it.

And he's withdrawing from his classes so he doesn't flunk out while he auditions for NBA teams. He will pick up two classes he can complete while working out so that he remains eligible for the fall semester -- just in case he decides by the June 18 deadline to return to the Boulder campus.

"I am going to do everything possible to stay eligible, just in case things don't work out," Roby said.

He has every intention, however, of proving his worth to the pros.

"I'm fully confident in my abilities and what I can do," Roby said. "If I have to come back here I wouldn't be sad. I would come back to a program where the coaches love me and the students love me. So it wouldn't hurt at all."

Roby, a 6-foot-6, 190-pound guard, averaged 17 points and 5.5 rebounds for the Buffaloes this season before he went through a shooting slump along with the rest of his teammates that doomed their once-promising season, which ended with an embarrassing home loss in the NIT.

Roby said a decision about his NBA aspirations weighed on him over the last several weeks, but he didn't blame that for his late-season swoon.

"It's always been in the back of my mind. You can't help when everybody keeps asking you," he said. "I wouldn't say it entirely affected the way I played because even when I was playing well it was still in the back of my mind."

Roby's pro stock might have taken a hit, but he said he thinks his value will be determined in the coming months, not the last two.

"I heard a lot of different things. But I really think it will come down to the workouts and how well I perform during the workouts. And me going against some of the guys that play my position," Roby said.

Roby said he consulted with Martin, who "agreed with this decision. Everybody I talked to really agreed with the decision."

Martin told The Associated Press earlier this season that he wouldn't try to influence Roby one way or the other whether.

"I'm not going to make that decision for him. I'm going to let him make that decision," Martin said. "But no matter what decision he makes, I'm going to be there for him."

Martin faced a similar decision in the 1990s and chose to stay in school.

He was a projected 21st pick after his junior season and returned to Cincinnati, where he was named the consensus national player of the year. He was chosen No. 1 overall by the New Jersey Nets in the 2000 NBA draft despite breaking a leg in March and missing the NCAA Tournament.

"Somebody told me he was like 21st on the draft board right now," Martin said last month. "I was 21st after my junior year and I came back. You can better your position.

"But a lot of people are going to look at it for the fact that I got hurt my senior year. So, I don't want him to think about that. If he decides to stay in school, I want it to be to become a better basketball player and get his books," Martin said.

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press