Jon Rothstein: CBS Sports College Basketball Insider

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So, I want to make sure that I get that right. The wings are going to drive people in in droves in the same location as Bar Coastal. The burger is not to be fluffed on. Is it the same wings as the one that were at Bar Coastal? Like, you can't tell the difference? Same one.

You wouldn't be able to tell the difference. It's definitely worth the trip up to the Upper East Side. 78th and 1st. Well, that's good to know.

I'm going to have to definitely try that out and go there this summer. Jon Rothstein here with us. In the last 20 years, Jon, the two most hyped prospects have been LeBron James and Zion Williamson. Does the hype for Victor Wabunyama exceed both LeBron and Zion when you remember them as prospects? Well, I think the difference with Victor Wabunyama versus those two players is we had, you know, samples regularly in America. I know there's been a couple times where Victor Wabunyama played in the States, but, you know, LeBron James' high school games were on ESPN when he was at St. Vincent and St. Mary, and you knew that this guy was going to be a generational talent. And as far as Zion Williamson, he had the platform of playing at Duke for a season where Duke earned a number one seed in the NCAA tournament. So you knew, you knew that Zion Williamson was going to be, obviously, somebody who was going to be the top pick in the NBA draft.

That was the sweet stick for that lottery. Victor Wabunyama's different. He's different because his game is different. He's different because the NBA's game has changed as well, and he is somebody, again, that ironically enough is going to go to a franchise due 26 years ago drafted Tim Duncan.

So you really can't really be too mad if you're a Spurs fan, right? Everyone sees the height and the size of Victor Wabunyama, and they're enamored. I'm just wondering, for people that have been able to see him play, what can you tell us about him? I think just the way that his body is structured with his wingspan, with his ability, because everybody is so focused on what he does offensively with his size, length, skill, feel for the game. He has a chance, because of how big he is, to be an incredible defender, not just on the ball, Zach, but in terms of his health and his ability because he is so unique and he's so long. So it's a testament, really, I think, how basketball has changed that Victor Wabunyama has been crafted and molded like a piece of clay, like we're going to see here for the next couple of decades in the NBA with San Antonio. I was five feet away from him earlier this morning at his press conference, and he walks in the room, the guy looks like a seven-foot-four alien. Do you think he needs to add on more weight?

Because I know he's resisted a little bit, at least publicly, to doing that. Yeah, the NBA game has changed so much now. I don't think we have the bruisers that we had in the 90s in terms of the durability of somebody like Victor Wabunyama. I think you want to see him avoid something that somebody like Kristof was in, gets dealt with in his career, which was obviously being injury-prone, but I don't know necessarily if it's the weight, Zach, as much as it's improving his body composition so he can obviously absorb the wear and tear of an 82-game NBA season.

Jon Rothstein here with us. Everything being said about Victor Wabunyama right now is extremely positive. We know when LeBron got in the league, it only took four years for him to take that dreadful Cleveland team to the NBA Finals. Can you see Victor having early on in his first four or five years of his career a LeBron James type of impact?

I don't want to put that type of pressure on him. Again, I cover college basketball, so this is something that's going to be an NBA type forecast. He's clearly the top prospect in this NBA draft. He's a generational type talent. I think when you think about what you're being forecasted as, this is somebody who if he's a multi-time NBA All-Star, people that are 15 years are going to be disappointed down the road. That's something to keep in mind for somebody who would get to play a game or an NBA. When you look at Brandon Miller, Jon Rothstein, who's your comparison for Brandon Miller?

Paul George. Brandon Miller is one of the best shooters in this draft. He's also an exceptionally good readout. To me, this is the guy that I think should be the number two pick in the NBA draft. He was the first Team All-American.

I know Alabama did not have the type of ending to their season. I hope they wouldn't have lost to San Diego State in the 3-16, but Brandon Miller, to me, clearly the second best prospect in this draft. Somebody, again, that can shoot the basketball with great size. That's a real, real coveted commodity in the NBA.

He's a guy you've got to take a number two. Why are you a Brandon Miller guy over Scoot Henderson? I just think when you have a scenario where you have somebody who has proven something at the highest levels of college basketball. He was a freshman, and he was the best player on the team that earned a number one seed in the NCAA tournament.

Remember, Alabama had never been a number one seed in the NCAA tournament until Brandon Miller arrived on campus. Knowing that you have that commodity with somebody who stands 6-9 is just, to me, much more impressive than somebody who has major questions about his shooting ability at the lead guard position, frankly, in a situation in the G League that isn't near the platform that college basketball is. When you look at the tape from Scoot Henderson from G League, you ignite.

What are you kind to see, and who's your player comp for him? You know, I think you can look at people like Derrick Rose. You can look at people like Russell Westbrook.

There's a combination there. The explosiveness is not to be obviously denied. He's an exceptional, exceptional athlete. But in order to stick in the NBA, especially now with the spacing and the concept that so many offensive teams are using, you have to be able to consistently make shots from the outside. And that's the million dollar question for Scoot Henderson, which is an alarming one if you're looking on this guy being the lead guard that you're going to bank on with your NBA franchise.

Gotcha. And then when you look at Eamon Thompson, what stands out to you about him? Well, I mean, I think the thing you love about, you know, both of the Thompson guys from everybody you talk to around overtime elite, you know, close to them is just, you know, their incredible desire for the game. But you know, these guys are again coming into a scenario where for all intents and purpose, you know, it's a risk reward type thing. Because these are guys, again, who have not played at the highest levels of competition, in my opinion, compared to people who have been proven commodities in college basketball.

I think that's a big thing for me that I take into account. When you look at some of the other highly rated prospects in this draft, everyone's talking about the big four names that we just discussed. John Rothstein, who else jumps off the page and do you really like? Well, I mean, I think there's been a lot of discussion recently about Cam Whitmore. He's somebody who I think, you know, never really got off to a strong start of Villanova because he had a, you know, an injury ethic at the offset. But, you know, this is somebody again, who I saw at a preseason practice, who I felt like would have been far and away the best offensive freshman that Villanova had since they had Steve Thomas under Steve Lapis in the late 90s.

But when you miss the majority of preseason practice, and then you miss the start of a season, Zach, and you're not playing with Justin Moore, who's obviously a veteran playmaker until later in the season, it affects things. I think, though, and I've talked to some NBA people about this, that, you know, there's a lot of people who think Cam Whitmore is a top three to five prospect in this draft. He's somebody I would look at closely. There's other guys here in the draft, Zach, that I think are pieces to an NBA puzzle. I think there's some good with Anthony Black. I think there's some good with Jarvis Walker.

He can trick the defense six days and be that kind of a stretch for like a J Crowder. But I also think, you know, we don't have, in my opinion, cornerstone pieces after Brandon Miller and Victor, women. I know each and every year talking to you, John Rothstein, you always give me a name or two that could be a really good value pick in the second round. Who's the name or two that you're buzzing this year that could fold around to? Well, there's a couple of guys that I have, you know, my intent is up on because I think, Zach, we put so much in for the potential for the NBA draft, there's not enough about the productivity. The guys that I'm looking at and I've obviously looked at in college closely that I think could fall or go somewhere between 20 and beyond or 17, 18 and beyond, who I think would be able to be NBA rotation players and long term NBA pros are the following guys. Jaime Hopkins from UCLA, I'm a major, major fan. I'm a huge fan as well of Colby Jones out of Xavier. Really skilled player. Reminds me a lot, he's not identical, but could have a Josh Hart type role in the NBA.

I also think that if, you know, you're looking at production, okay, and productivity, how are more people not looking at finding a place for a domicile? This is somebody who's the most outstanding player in the NCAA tournament. And again, he's not getting a Smith in the top 35, 40 pick from everybody I'm talking to. I think those are three guys that really, really stand out. I think bright sensible shooting ability makes the mechanics stick out of Ohio State.

And then Marcus Sasser from Houston to me has the opportunity to be, I think, somebody who can stick in the league as, you know, as a really good rotation player. On the way out with John Rothstein, clearly a lot has transpired with Bob Huggins the last month. Now he's out as he resigned as the head coach of West Virginia. We know the homophobic comments he made in the radio interview and that everyone did see the DUI that did happen last week. How do you kind of react to the end of what we would think is the Hall of Fame career of Bob Huggins?

Really disappointing, Zach. Really sad, you know, because, you know, Bob Huggins is a Hall of Famer. He loves his alma mater and he loves obviously coaching.

But he's somebody again who is going to, you know, unfortunately be remembered as part of his bio as somebody who lost the Cincinnati job and he lost the West Virginia job because of alcohol. This is somebody who even though, you know, they had to make a change in West Virginia, it's irreplaceable in West Virginia's fabric and I think it's going to be exceptionally critical for West Virginia's next set coach to embrace Bob Huggins and all that he brought to the table. Because it's Bob Huggins who really allowed the people of West Virginia to rally around that basketball program. It's Bob Huggins who got West Virginia to fund all the money for a major state-of-the-art practice facility.

He raised that money, not the school. So this is somebody again who West Virginia, you know, they had to say goodbye to but the next set coach is going to have to keep him around if obviously he wants to have success and get off to the right foot in Morganton. Do you think the best course of action with how late in the game it is right now and the typical hiring cycle being over to just go with an interim this year and then look for the full-time coach a year from now?

I thought that would have been the best course of action but, you know, from everything I'm gathering out of Morganton, this is a full-fledged search and it's one that's just getting going but, you know, this is June. Every minute, every day that goes by, it gets harder and harder to keep things stable and together because, you know, these are kids here that are starting summer school and getting ready to learn their teammates and their offensive and defensive concepts. So it's a really, really, you know, less than advantageous time to be going through a coaching change. Are there a few names that are on your radar that you think could make sense for West Virginia?

I think it's just a unique job, Zach, and it's such a unique place that it would take a special person to flourish there. I don't think there's one clear-cut planned on candidate. Well, a name that's going to get thrown out there. I know he just signed an extension and his whole team's coming back so maybe it's going to be a year from now but do you think Dusty May will be in play there?

No, I do not. Dusty May, I believe, will be coaching at Florida Atlantic next year. Gotcha. John Rothstein, appreciate the time as always. Thanks so much. Always, buddy. Great talking to you, Zach.