The pros of ACC hoops

The ACC remains the best way to get to the NBA.

With 54 of its former players currently playing in the NBA, the Atlantic Coast Conference has more alums in the professional league than any of the six major college basketball conferences. Even with four fewer teams, the ACC has one more former player in the NBA than the Big East (53).

Duke leads all schools with 14 former players in the NBA. The Blue Devils and rival North Carolina make up half of the ACC's list.

UNC's 13 NBA players ties the Tar Heels with Connecticut and UCLA for the second-most on the list. Georgia Tech, tied for ninth overall with seven NBA players, gives the ACC three of the top 10 college programs as far as producing pro talent.

The Indiana Pacers - with Duke's Mike Dunleavy, Dahntay Jones and Josh McRoberts plus UNC's Tyler Hansbrough - have the most former ACC players on their roster, and there's at least one former ACC player on all but three NBA rosters (Memphis, Milwaukee and Oklahoma City).

Other notes and observations:

With the addition of rookies Jeff Teague (Atlanta) and James Johnson (Chicago), Wake Forest can field a starting five, plus have a sixth man, which makes the Demon Deacons the favorite for the mythical national title for the NBA's top group of college alums.

Tim Duncan, Chris Paul and Josh Howard just needed some able-bodied reinforcements to top Texas and UConn's alums.

UNC added four players to the list this season -- Hansbrough (Indiana), Ty Lawson (Denver), Wayne Ellington (Minnesota) and Danny Green (Cleveland) -- but lost two (guards Rashad McCants and Jerry Stackhouse). Stackhouse retired and McCants is a free agent currently looking to hook on with a team.

Of the 13 on UNC's list, nine played for coach Roy Williams. Add the four former Kansas players from Williams' tenure there, and he has a total of 13 former players in the NBA.

The biggest surprise on Carolina's list has to be Washington Wizards forward Brendan Haywood. If you predicted the 7-footer, who appeared indifferent or out of shape for portions of his college career, would go nine seasons deep into his NBA career, don't break that crystal ball.

Staying power has been the key to Duke's success. Half of its 14 players entered the NBA before the 2003-04 season, compared to four for UNC.

Grant Hill, 15 years after leading Duke to the NCAA title game, is the longest-tenured ACC player in the NBA.

The order of the six major conferences is: ACC (54), Big East (53), Pac-10 (49), SEC (38), Big 12 (35) and Big Ten (33). The 54 is actually a four-year low for the ACC, which had a high-water mark of 59 in 2008-09.

Clemson and Virginia Tech are two of only eight teams from the six major conferences without an NBA player.

N.C. State's list consists of a player who left after one season (J.J. Hickson), one who left after two years (Josh Powell) and one who transferred after three years (Damien Wilkins). Only Hickson played for current N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe.