ESPN's Pat Forde Weighs in on Mayo

This is rich…if not premature.

In a just world, USC basketball would have something in common with SMU football in the near future.

The death penalty.

When I first read that this morning I said, Wow! That didn’t take long, think he had this one in the can ready to go?

For the most part I have always respected Forde’s work but he is a bit premature here. ESPN does the investigation, so of course Forde, an ESPN writer, automatically believes it’s all true right? Based on just allegations right? Can we have some proof? I saw the receipts too, but can you prove the flat screen TV was in Mayo’s room? Can you prove that Mayo actually stayed in the hotel room in question? Are we automatically going to believe the word of ANOTHER drug dealer who appears to have an axe to grind?

The pendulum has swung the other way. Gone are the days of  “the greatest team ever” to now saying that SC deserves the death penalty over things that have yet to be proven only alleged.

I am going to be honest here; I am to the point that I couldn’t care less. Players taking money?! Say it aint so!! The whole process is dirty, from coaches circumventing recently established rules to hangers on being allowed almost limitless access.

For every player accused or caught taking money there is another one who gets away with it. It is what it is, I’m certainly not saying its right but I’m not going to be surprised by it either regardless of the program that is affected by it. The NCAA is powerless to address it even retroactively, as greedy players and their hangers on will find a way around the rules or go to another school and jeopardize those programs.

Of course the NCAA will open up another investigation on Mayo based on this new information but in the end the joke’s on them because even after they investigated Mayo before its not like Guillory was some unknown, he has caused problems before. In my eyes SC is more culpable here because they knew about Guillory in the past; that should have been enough to raise some red flags. Clearly the NCAA/USC didn’t look in the right places in the past so now we are supposed to believe they will get it right this time?

There was a comment on All Things Trojan that really says it all:

On the one hand, the NCAA doesn't trust athletes so it relies on schools to monitor their actions. On the other hand, when an athlete goes bad, the NCAA trusts the athlete won't make the same mistake, but punishes the school for not monitoring the athlete's actions.

Go figure.

That really is the truth.

The system is so screwed up that it is clear the inmates are running the asylum. Frankly, I’m disgusted. Especially with the whole Bush mess hanging like a black cloud out there. You would think that SC would be more skeptical with all the things associated with Mayo and his recruitment of USC. I had my doubts about Mayo early on and how he came to SC but he won me over with his respectful demeanor and play on the court. I noted a month or so ago that having Mayo at SC was worth it, but if this is true I am totally bewildered. Mike Garrett is going to have to answer a lot of tough questions here as will Tim Floyd

USC is going to have a hard time convincing anyone that they monitored this situation closely at all. There were just too many signs there and they were all missed...

Fool me once shame on you…fool me twice shame on me.

Note: As of this writing, I have not seen the piece on Outside the Lines yet. I am waiting for the 12pm EDT showing on ESPN News to see the whole thing. I am only going on what is on ESPN.com

Before anyone goes and lights their hair on fire over the allegations that O.J. Mayo received improper benefits from those who are/were in his inner circle I want you read the last paragraph of the story on ESPN.com . (emphasis added)

Johnson told ESPN he didn't get paid, but hoped to profit once Mayo made it to the NBA. He said he fell out of favor with Mayo because Guillory created a strain in the relationship by misrepresenting things Johnson allegedly said about Mayo and, eventually, sabotaging their relationship.

WOW!  Really, so now that he is out of the picture, for whatever reason, he is going make these allegations without any form of proof?

Where have we seen this before?

Based on past allegations we all know Guillory is probably an unsavory character but unless Johnson can provide any other evidence that there were improprieties going on all we have  is another case of sour grapes. I love how he acts like he is only looking out for O.J.'s interests...right, sure and you have no vested interest in this, am I reading you correctly here?

More importantly:

USC issued a statement, saying: "The NCAA and the Pac-10 reviewed O.J. Mayo's amateur status before and during his enrollment at USC, and did not identify any amateurism violations. Mayo and USC fully cooperated in these investigations. The University investigated and reported a violation involving Mayo's receipt of tickets to a Denver Nuggets game from his friend Carmelo Anthony. Mayo's eligibility was reinstated after he made a charitable contribution in the amount of the value of the tickets."

Once again, if the powers that be have done some due diligence and found no wrong doing then whats the point here?

I am sure we will hear more about this and when there is more we will comment more but until then it's best to let it play out. Let the clowns from across town light their hair on fire and throw wild speculation around. Heck, it's what their good at so why not get your entertainment free with your price of admission.

One final thing, if there was any concrete proof that OJ had taken money other than hearsay ESPN would not have waited for some OTL piece to break the story, they would have broken it on Sports Center just so they wouldn't get scooped by another media outlet.

I am going to need more than just the word of a jilted hanger-on to get me to believe anything here.

UPDATE:

OK, so I have now seen the piece. Right out of the gate Johnson acts like he has O.J.’s best interests in mind by coming forward. If he was so worried than why did it take so long for him come forward.

Clearly, Guillory is bad news. Whatever the reason he took advantage of BDA Sports and spent a lot of their money. There are a lot of copies of receipts and wire transfers yet no direct proof that Mayo took any money or gifts. Do I think BDA hired Guillory to to get close to Mayo? I could buy into that the wire transfers alone could be used to get close to O.J.’s friends in order build the relationship with Mayo but not necessarily pay Mayo directly. That's called walking around money. Shady yes but an improper benefit? Doubtful.

Anyway, those are my quick thought’s as I get ready to head out the door for Mothers Day. I will have more as this develops.

Nice Story on O.J. over at ESPN ($).

As more NBA teams watch his tape and do background checks, the more it looks like Mayo may become the consensus No. 3 pick in the draft.

Mayo's stock suffered at the start of the season based on some pretty unrealistic expectations. He's been on scouts' radars since the eighth grade, and many expected him to be a LeBron James-type dominant player as a freshman.

For all the negativity that surrounded Mayo and HIS recruitment of USC he sure has silenced his critics. he has been nothing but a gentleman on the court and off of it.

But there's another story, too, that's helping Mayo's stock. More and more teams are reporting that their background checks are coming back as positives for Mayo. Teams say that he earned good grades at USC and was a good citizen for coach Tim Floyd, and they report multiple instances of Mayo volunteering to help underprivileged kids.

Guess O.J. Isn't a thug after all. We really shouldn't be surprised, he kept his commitment to Tim Floyd and Mike Garrett about finishing the semester. Maybe Mike Wilbon should take another look at this kid and reassess his harsh words towards Mayo last fall.

Mayo represented us well and we wish him luck!

Well here I am in sunny Santa Monica, for one day only as I leave this afternoon after coming at 1am local time this morning. Such is business. Tell me again why did I left here to move to the east coast...

While it hasn't been confirmed by Jefferson or the NBA, it appears as was posted earlier in the diaries, that Davon Jefferson will be heading to the NBA.

Again no real surprise here as this was what we had been hearing for about a week now. If true we wish him luck but it is a big mistake and we're not the only ones who feel that way.

the interesting thing here is that for the first time we are hearing that his reason for leaving is because of some conflicts with Tim Floyd.

It's a shame that he couldn't see it through. I certainly don't know the dynamics of how it is to play under Tim Floyd but regardless he would have been better served to swallow his pride and stay the extra year to polish his game. As noted in the comments with Jefferson leaving we are back where we started before Mayo and Jefferson arrived. I don't know if that's a good thing or not but we will start afresh when Demar DeRozan arrives in the fall.

It's too bad really but that's how it goes...

I started working on this couple of days ago but work got in the way. Others have picked up on this as well so I am a little late to the party on this.

That has been the saying we have been the most over the past few weeks.

The allure of instant millions and increased exposure take kids with real talent and thrusts them into a brighter spotlight. The one-year minimum rule set by the NBA for college basketball players gives the appearance of trying to look out for the player while supposedly building a players skills is really nothing more than its own minor league system. The NCAA should have worked more closely with the NBA to put the best product out there possible. Mind you this only really affects 10-15 players a season, sometimes less than that, but the message is a joke: stay one year, bring your school exposure and head off to the NBA...and good luck!

It really depends on what your personal take is. I am of the thought process of it's all or nothing, I would rather have players like O.J. Mayo and Kevin Love stay a mandatory 3 years in school or skip college altogether and go to the NBA, yes I am selfish. Regardless of how strong a program is the true one-and-done player can screw up the chemistry of a team.

Sure, it was fun watching Mayo this season and for the most part he delivered all the excitement that we hoped he would but did it help USC basketball move forward? We'll see. College coaches have no choice but to recruit these type of players because there is so much possible upside, they would be nuts if they didn't. But if that type of player doesn't have to consider college than the coach's energy could be focused elsewhere.

Top players like O.J. Mayo and Kevin Love run the risk of injury without any compensation by being forced to play one season of college ball and in the case of Kevin Love the possibility of having your stock drop is threat if you have a bad stretch of games. Cowherd was right when he said he said a couple of weeks ago that its not like high school players who have jumped to the NBA in the past (before the one-year rule) have become derelicts. They may not all be stars but they seem to be doing just fine and many are still in the league. There is no guarantee that playing a year in college will do anything to help their game but it certainly could hurt it.

Plaschke has a pretty decent take on it as well.

Aside form the gratuitous shot at Mayo he's right, the identity of a team hardly sets in before it's changed.

More important, the NBA's attempt to "look out for the player" actually hurts the very talent pool they are trying to cultivate. The NBA is a business pure and simple so this holier than thou attitude, about looking out for the kids is misplaced if its really there at all. Some kids have a god given talent that they can take to the next level but it doesn't mean they will do well in school so why force them to go for only one year and potentially hurt a schools APR. For that player on the fringe who fits well in the college routine his game is probably well served to stay more than one year.

 The NBA right now is unwatchable regardless of the mandatory minimum that this current crop of players has to adhere to. A lot of these players simply do not have a sound all around game. I would agree that there is no guarantee that a minimum three years in college will change this but seeing that I prefer college hoops over the NBA and that I am selfish to see the best product possible for USC I would love to see the three year mandatory rule implemented. In all honesty I don't see it happening but that would be my preference.

While I seldom agree with the host from our rival site he has a post up today that I think is pretty dead on and it directed me towards Mitch Albom's piece in the Detroit Free-Press.

The article goes onto say some of the same things that I said here earlier, but I do have to laugh at Albom's (and Plaschke's) tone, it's a wee bit sanctimonious to me.

Until the rules change it won't get any better so we will just have to deal with it and enjoy the time we have the one-and-done player. For me, once they leave college I won't watch them in the NBA so I will enjoy it while it lasts.

On again off again.

Not surprising if he does but where will he be slotted in the draft is anyone's guess.

If true, Gibson staying is a big deal, as it will provide some semblance of a foundation for next year.

OK, I'll Bite...

The DN reported that O. J. Mayo actually considered staying for his sophomore year at USC.

I won't lie, it would have been great to have him come back but there were two chances he was staying; slim and none and slim left town a long time ago. Tim Floyd wasn't going to let him stay as he has said repeatedly that it would irresponsible for Mayo not to go to the NBA with payday that he is sure to receive. That we even had Mayo for one season is a gift.

Mayo signed with the same agent that represents Carmelo Anthony effectively ending his college career. I just want to make sure that he keeps his word about finishing the semester so that SC isn't punished by losing a scholarship. Mayo has been more than a solid citizen while he has been at SC and he represented the school very well. He has silenced all the criticisms from his detractors in regards to his character, particularly those from the clowns from across town.

I'm not a big fan of the NCAA/NBA one-year minimum rule and over all I think it does the player with real talent a disservice but this season was fun to watch. This is going to be a pretty impressive freshman class that is heading to the NBA with Mayo, Love, Beasley and Rose. I'm not a big fan of the NBA but I will peak in a time or two to see how these guys do.

We wish O.J. Luck!

Garry Parrish is having some fun I think.

I think it's a bit early to wondering how SC is going to look in 2008-09. We still don't know where Gibson or Jefferson stand; though Jefferson may declare without signing an agent.

We'll see...

That's what it will look like when basketball season starts in the fall.

Departures of big name players in the Pac-10 will change the face of how the conference looks as we head into the 2008-09 season.

Ignoring the seniors that are departing and the names of underclassmen already out there, the jury is still out on just who is going to depart but the names that have already declared change the landscape already.

GONE:

O.J. Mayo - USC

The Lopez Brothers - Stanford

Jerryd Bayless - Arizona

LEANING:

Kevin Love - UCLA

Darren Collison - UCLA

Chase Budinger - Arizona

Ryan Anderson - Cal

RUMORS/WHO KNOWS:

Taj Gibson - USC

Davon Jefferson - USC

Russell Westbrook - UCLA

Josh Shipp - UCLA

Alfred Aboya - UCLA

Who'd I miss? There are more I'm sure. Heck, ucla could lose a few more than that if Dragovic decides to play in Europe and if Mbah a Moute moves on. If SC doesn't get some production from Diarrah under the basket it could be a very tough season for Tim Floyd. An inside presence is sorely needed to take the pressure off of Taj. Of course that is provided that Gibson and Jefferson stay, something I would think is 70-30 against.

Most of the teams have solid recruiting classes that will keep the competition level high. I still see ucla as the favorite to win another Pac-10 title but the disparity between them and the rest of the Pac-10 will close considerably if anyone else other than Love or Collison leaves and they will have a tough time making it to the Elite 8 let alone a 4th straight Final 4. Washington state has some issues as well with 60% of their scoring departing with three seniors who are out the door.

Coaching changes at Oregon State, Cal and Stanford will also play a factor as new blood comes in to either reinvigorate or rebuild programs. The Band is Out On the Field has some good observations on the Pac-10 coaching outlook for next season.

It's going to be interesting times in the Pac-10.

With O.J. Mayo declaring for the draft earlier this week all eyes now turn to Davon Jefferson and Taj Gibson.

From the OC Register:

I think he needs another year but I wouldn't be surprised if he went hired an agent.

At least he is honoring his commitment to stay in school until the semester's over so that SC won't be penalized a scholarship. Of course now we are also waiting on word from Taj. So there may be a few more shoes that will probably drop.