I don't think I buy this theory. I do think Coach K gets his guys to play harder than just about anyone else in college, but I have always thought that the guys that go pro continue to play that way. Duhon and Battier immediately come to mind as "effort" guys. And watching JJ run around after Ray Allen was tiring me out on the couch.
I think the "lack of success" if there has been one (I still think we have more guys in the NBA than any other school...but maybe I'm wrong), has just been a bit a bad luck. Injuries to JWill and Grant Hill prevented them from reaching their potential, but guys like Brand and Booser became stars and there is the long list of other solid NBA players.
I bet if you compared it to UNC or UCLA or any other traditional power, you would see a similar sort of success rate in their college stars becoming good NBA players.