Kyle Hill not only improved his chances of being drafted in this June’s NBA draft last week, but he also found those chances were a lot better than he thought.

The senior guard played in the Portsmouth (Va.) Invitational, an event that pits six all-star teams of highly talented college seniors against each other, allowing pro scouts to assess their talent.

It was there Hill and former AAU coach and friend Steve Taylor learned he was being held in very high regard by many NBA scouts.

“A friend of mine, Steve Taylor, has friends who scout in the NBA and he may be my attorney for the draft,” Hill said. “And he spoke to some scouts who said I have a real good chance of going in the first round.

“He also spoke to Marty Blake (director of NBA scouting) and he said he thinks I could go in the top 15 of the draft,” he said. “They all said that if I go out and play like I can play and continue to do the things I know how to do than there’s no doubt I could make it in the first round.”

All of this comes as a surprise to Hill, who sixth months ago had little if any interest from professional scouts

“I never knew any of these things,” Hill said of being a possible first round draft pick. “It’s really surprising to me.

“I kind of want to doubt that,” he said. “Usually doubting myself is my form of motivation.”

While it’s exciting for Hill to be considered among the nation’s elite prospects, he said he’s not going to take those statements as any thing more than a compliment.

“I don’t really look at all these predictions as meaning that much,” said Hill, who was invited Wednesday to participate in the “I just take them as a compliment and go out and show what I can do. It’s just a good compliment.”

Pro scouts had the opportunity to see Hill play a few times throughout the season, but they really didn’t start to take notice until his Most Valuable Player performance in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament when he scored a record-tying 99 points in three tournament games. That effort included 31 points in an amazing effort in the Panthers’ 26-point comeback in the conference championship game.

“I think throughout the year playing against some of the great players I did helped some scouts see me even though they were there to see other people,” Hill said. “Playing against (Austin Peay’s) Trenton Hassell and playing in Miami, Fla. agaisnt Darius Rice and at South Florida’s B.B. Waldon helped me. Even though there were scouts there to see them, that got a chance to look at me, Henry and some of our guys.”

After Hill’s unbelievable performance in OVC Championship game, he continued to gain attention after scoring 32 points in Eastern’s NCAA Tournament loss to Arizona. Eastern’s No. 2 all-time leading scorer also had the opportunity to play in front of scouts at the NABC All-Star game at the NCAA Final Four, where he was named the MVP for the college all-star team.

While each of those events helped Hill gain recognition, last week’s Portsmouth Invitational was the first time he was performing solely for scouts.

“The first day, you could tell everyone was pretty nervous and there were a lot of really good players there,” Hill said of Portsmouth. “There was definitely an added pressure.

“A lot of guys were worried and kind of let it effect there game,” he said. “You have to try and overlook it and go out there and play, but it’s tough.”

Hill played pretty well, scoring 11 pts in his first game followed up by two 19-point performances in his next two games. The senior was just 3-15 shooting in the first game, but warmed up to shoot 9-19 and 7-13 in final two games.

“I’m usually playing with my team and I’m worried about winning not individual things,” he said. “It was different because you’re really out there marketing yourself and showing everyone what you can do.”

One thing Hill wished he could have marketed a little better to the dozens of scouts in attendance, one of which was Julius Erving, was his outside shooting as he shot a combined 5-20 from three-point range.

“I missed a lot of open shots and really wasn’t in my rhythm,” he said. “I didn’t shoot that well and I didn’t hit some shots I usually make.”

Despite the occassional cold shooting spurts, Hill said he did help market himself in areas scouts were most skeptical of.

“A lot of people said they knew I could shoot the ball and even though I didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, I showed them some other things,” said Hill, who spent the majority of the invitational playing point guard. “I showed them I could run the break, defend, play point guard and distribute the ball.

“My shooting touch wasn’t there,” he said. “But I played pretty good defense and I did a lot of other things well.”

The most memorable part of the invite for Hill was his three dunks in Portsmouth’s second game.

“My biggest highlight was a two-handed dunk I had on (George Mason’s 6-foot-seven-inch forward) George Evans,” Hill said. “I think at first some people there didn’t even know if I could dunk, but I had three of them in that game.”

Hill, who finished the season as the nation’s No. 3 leading scorer while setting the record for Eastern’s all-time single-season scoring average, not only impressed scouts but professional agents as well.

“I had many agents contact me, too and at Portsmouth there were agents everywhere,” he said. “They’re right there after the game to introduce themselves, give you their business card and try to take you out to dinner.”

Hill said having Taylor there helped him adjust to all the attention.

“My dad sent him with me because he didn’t want me to be there alone,” he said. “He was there to support me and he helped me deal with the agents and everything.”

Despite all the attention and talk of possibly being a first round draft pick, Hill signing with an agent isn’t a path he wants to take right now.

“You have to be cautious with any business you do and especially with agents because people will try to get over on you,” Hill said. “There’s a lot of agents offering a lot of thingsbut at this time I don’t feel I need an agent.”

Hill said Panther head coach Rick Samuels offered him the same advice and the senior also added he may never see the need to hire an agent.

“With the way the NBA is now with salary caps and minimum salaries I might not even need an agent,” he said. “I might just need an attorney to negotiate my own salary. That’s something I worry about in the future, not right now.

“I’ll sit down and talk to agents because I don’t want to burn any bridges or anything like that,” Hill said. “But I don’t want to commit to an agent. I just want to go out and play and prove what I can do.”

Hill will continue to prove himself when he travels to Phoenix in the first week of May for the Desert Classic, which he was invited to Wednesday. The Desert Classic is another invitational set up for pro prospects, but unlike Portsmouth, this camp invites just 32 players instead of 64.

“A lot of top guys didn’t go to Portsmouth because they knew they were already invited to Phoenix,” Hill said. “I’m happy to be invited and hope I can continue to play well.”

Hill will continue to practice and prepare for his next showcase opportunity with coaches and teammates who take pride in his success.

“They’re all really happy for me and a lot of them are in awe of the things I’ve gotten to do,” Hill said. “Henry (Domercant) was in awe and would just sit there and say, `Kyle, I can’t believe you’re going to go to the league and I’ll be watching you on T.V. some day.’

“Coach Samuels is loving it and he’s so happy and when I played at the (NABC) All-Star game I could see that look of pride on his face,” he said. “That’s been the best thing about this year and the four years I’ve been here – the people I’ve been around and they’re all so happy and proud of me.”

While Hill will continue to work and improve his game, he said he’s still trying to put everything in perspective in a year where he went from an unsung college athlete to a possible first round NBA draft pick.

“I’d never imagine to have anything like the year I’ve had,” Hill said. “I never, ever thought I’d be able to be drafted in the first round. It’s all like a dream.

“Playing in the NBA is an opportunity only a few people get to do,” he said. “This has always been a dream in the back of my mind, but to come this close to it now is just unbelievable.”

And if Hill continues to play the way he has, his amazing year could be capped by a dream come true – NBA Comissioner David Stern announcing his name as a first-round draft pick.

“The year I had has just been so unbelievable,” he said. “All those things happened to me for a reason and that’s my motto.

“These last few weeks have just been an emotional rollercoaster, and I’ve loved every minute of it,” Hill said. “There isn’t anything that could have happened any better and hopefully those things will keep happening for a reason.”