The 11 Best Schools for Producing NBA Lottery Talent

There's nothing like the NBA Draft lottery. In virtually every other major sport, a franchise can feel comfortable it'll get some quality in the first round -- and sometimes the second round, or the third, or even the fourth. Professional hoops is...different. No disrespect to the Jimmy Butlers (30th pick, 2011) of the world, but there's a distinct line between the top 14 NBA selections and the rest of the first round.

Teams looking to rebuild at the top of the draft have their fates decided by a machine and a whole heap of ping pong balls. Probability and luck are big factors in how the lottery order is decided.

Dating back to 1985 (the first year the lottery was conducted), there have been 447 lottery picks, according to data obtained through Basketball Reference's draft finder tool. Using that same tool and data, we can count the number of lottery picks each college has produced as a program.

Many would expect top basketball schools like Kentucky, North Carolina and Duke to lead the charge. But do they really? See for yourself.

Each of these schools has produced at least nine lottery players in the past 33 drafts. What you'll also see is the win share total and relevant awards, as well as the single draft in which the most players were selected and the most productive NBA player.

By all these measures, these schools have served as the most well-traveled pipelines between collegiate hoopers and NBA lottery choices.