Programs producing top pros

In the 2012 NBA draft, 30 general managers will do their level best to pick players who someday will land on this list of NBA leaders in career player efficiency rating. PER, the brainchild of my ESPN Insider colleague John Hollinger, measures a player's overall efficiency on offense and defense.

If those NBA GMs are smart or lucky or both, they'll draft a player who joins the likes of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul atop this efficiency leaderboard. Are there any clues to be offered by recent history? Specifically, I wondered whether all those front offices could save themselves a lot of time breaking down game tape by simply making a phone call to a particular Division I head coach. If certain programs have demonstrated the ability to produce players who become highly efficient NBA performers, it stands to reason that current stars coming out of those programs merit a close look.

On that basis, perhaps the NBA should take a longer gander at Austin Rivers. There's simply no mistaking that Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski has excelled at cranking out players who put up glittering PER numbers in the professional ranks, and coming from that program is one thing Rivers has in his favor.

Here are the schools that have produced the most members of a most exclusive club, top-50 performers in terms of career PER among active NBA players.

To read about the other programs that have excelled at producing high-quality NBA players, you must be an ESPN Insider.

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John Gasaway

ESPN Insider

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• ESPN Insider college basketball contributor
• First began covering college hoops in 2004
• Has written for Basketball Prospectus and the Wall Street Journal