Wall a Youtube sensation now, will be best guard in country later

My favorite part of the highlight is the sound of the crowd.

It's tremendous.

You hear a distinct Oooh followed a second later by an even louder Ahhh, and even if you didn't see him blow by that defender and then crack a dunk on Jerry Stackhouse's head, you would know just by what you heard that something wild had happened. And man, was it wild? Jordan Crawford, your dunk on LeBron James is now officially old news. The latest Dunk of the Month belongs to Kentucky freshman John Wall, and I'm just thankful nobody confiscated the tape.

John Wall's in the building!

It's fair to say John Wall could do for Kentucky this season what Derrick Rose did for Memphis. (Provided to CBSSports.com)

That's what the Greater NC Pro-Am's public address announcer yelled Saturday night right after the play that is now sweeping YouTube materialized. If you haven't seen it yet, you should. So feel free to take this moment to click this link, break away from this column and watch the highlight. I'll be here when you finish.

(Waiting ...)

OK, did you see it?

Excellent, right?

Did you notice the way the perimeter defender was playing off Wall, trying his best to prevent a drive? And yet Wall still cruised right by him with a nasty crossover. That's what caused the Ooohs. Once Wall got past his man, Stackhouse was the only person there to protect the rim, so he tried to protect the rim. Instead, he was a step too late (and perhaps a year or four too old), and Wall cracked his ass hard. That's what caused the Ahhhs. Then Wall gyrated a little, the public address announcer said "John Wall's in the building!" and it really is the perfect basketball highlight.

Great crossover?

Check

Great dunk?

Check

Great sound?

Check

The highlight is the total package.

Which brings me back to John Wall, who is similarly complete.

Almost everything you need to understand why Wall will be the best guard in the country this season -- yes, you read that right; he hasn't even played a college game yet, and I'm telling you he'll be the country's best guard -- is in that highlight. You see the quick first step, then the speed and explosiveness. It's all there. And those are among the reasons John Calipari has a chance to win his first national title next April, because Wall is a unique talent who will have the same type of impact in his presumed one season at UK that Derrick Rose had in his one season at Memphis.

Is Wall better than Rose?

I must've been asked that question a hundred times over the past year or so, because it was always assumed (correctly, I might add) that Wall would play for Calipari just like Rose played for Calipari, regardless of where Calipari might be coaching. Each time the question was asked, I would explain to the person asking it that it would be silly for me to say a high school player is a better prospect than the guy who had just taken Memphis to the national title game and become the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. But I always added that despite that, the comparison of Wall to Rose is fair, and that when fans were able to see Wall enough they would understand that he has natural gifts that will almost certainly make him a star from the moment his college career begins.

At this point, fans still haven't seen Wall much.

But they have seen him blow by a defender and dunk on an NBA veteran.

Hard.

On YouTube.

And it isn't as much of a highlight as it is a preview of what's to come.

"John Wall's in the building!"

Indeed, he is.

And it's going to be fun to watch.