First off, what idiots the USC athletic program is, with the Reggie Bush stuff going on, then you get this? No shocker here that Mayo was taking money and other electronics and the usual stuff, but how could USC let this go down? They knew this kid had a serious ego, is pretty much an idiot and thinks he is god's gift to the earth, how could they not keep an eye on what he was doing? Showing up on magazine covers with a Bentley, getting VIP Lakers tickets....You've been under the spotlight since 7th grade....do you not think people are watching?? I can see him getting drafted by the Knicks, he would fit in pretty well with the rest of those idiots.
Either way, I hope the NCAA comes down HARD on USC.
Either way, I hope the NCAA comes down HARD on USC.
Former USC basketball player O.J. Mayo, a projected lottery pick in this year's NBA draft, received thousands of dollars in cash, clothes and other benefits in apparent violation of NCAA rules while he was still in high school and during his one year in college, a former Mayo associate told ESPN's "Outside the Lines."
Reached by ESPN.com after the show, Mayo denied the claims.
Louis Johnson, who was a part of Mayo's inner circle until recently, said Mayo accepted around $30,000 in cash and gifts during the past four years from Rodney Guillory, a 43-year-old Los Angeles event promoter. In addition to cash, the gifts included a flat-screen television for Mayo's dorm room, cell phone service, a hotel room, clothes, meals and airline tickets for Mayo's friends and a relative, according to Johnson, others with knowledge of the gifts and store receipts.
When Mayo was in high school in Ohio and West Virginia, Guillory was receiving monthly payments from the Northern California sports agency Bill Duffy Associates. Johnson said BDA provided Guillory with around $200,000 before Mayo arrived at USC, and that Guillory used most of the money to support his own lifestyle but also gave a portion of it to Mayo.
In exchange for the payments and gifts, Mayo entered a verbal agreement to allow BDA to represent him when he turned pro, Johnson told "Outside the Lines."
Reached late Sunday night, Mayo told ESPN.com that "I don't know anything about it. It caught me by surprise. I've got to get to L.A. to see what's going on. I'm just focusing on the draft."