Sources close to high school seniors DeAngelo Collins, Lenny Cooke, Amare Stoudemire and Sani Ibrahim say it's just a matter of time before they'll declare for the NBA draft.

Carmelo Anthony, who signed to go to Syracuse, took a standardized test two weekends ago. If he doesn't get a qualifying test score, he'll go into the draft, but Syracuse expects he'll keep trying, even with the May 12 deadline looming.

One source said the fear is that Anthony might not be as high of a draft pick if he goes to Syracuse than if he comes out this season. But Syracuse refutes this claim, saying the Orangemen have had plenty of players who have come through and increased their draft status.

But one unfortunate theory floating around is that middlemen are trying to use players like Dan Gadzuric as an example of a player who could have been a first-round pick out of high school but then, after four years at UCLA, is hoping to land in the first round. The theory is that high school players, who haven't been exposed, are drafted on potential when not as much is known about their game.

Regardless of how many high school players enter this draft, it's not even close to last season when high school players dominated the lottery with four being chosen, including the top two picks.

More high school seniors are expected to go through the draft process if the NCAA board of directors passes on the management council proposal that would allow them to declare, get drafted and still return to college, beginning with the 2003 draft.

Stu Jackson, who is the point man for the NBA on the draft, said the league is still reviewing the legislation and wasn't contacted by the NCAA on the matter. Jackson said it's too early to determine if a team would retain the player's rights for a year. But the player would likely not re-enter the draft.

The consensus is that the high school players who would be in the second round would could go to school for a year. But any high school player drafted in the lottery, like No. 1 pick Kwame Brown last season who had signed to go to Florida, wouldn't pass up the guaranteed money to play college basketball for a season.

"Why wait for the $3 million, the NBA coaching and working with the guys that would be his teammates?" said one NBA player personnel director.

The one benefit of this rule for a player like Anthony, if this rule were in effect this season, is that it would give the player more time to take the standardized test. A player could take the test in June and still be eligible but the present rule forces the player to declare by May 12 and thus forfeit his eligibility. Under the new rule, the player could declare as a safety net and still pursue his eligibility up until the draft.

One NBA player personnel director said this rule might tempt teams into taking a high school player later in the first round instead of a European player that it doesn't intend on bringing onto the roster for a year if it's near the salary tax limit.

"If you draft a high school player you can see him getting his teaching at Duke for a year and get a commitment you'll get him rather than a European who you might not know for sure what he'll be doing," said the player personnel director.

Meanwhile, sources said the LeBron James issue for this draft is moot. The sources said James wouldn't challenge the legislation that prevents a high school junior from entering the draft. The potential lengthy litigation persuaded the James camp from pursuing the case. Instead, James will be at the ABCD camp in Teaneck, N.J. with fellow likely 2003 draft entrant Kendrick Perkins of Texas.

Andy Katz is a senior writer for ESPN.com.