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O.J. Mayo (Official Thread)

methomps said:
kicking lois?
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Sporting News

7/4

Anything but ordinary
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="text"> Posted: July 4, 2006

Sometime during the next few days -- the start of the NCAA's summer evaluation period for basketball recruits -- O.J. Mayo is expected to sit down with reporters and recruiting analysts and announce his college selection from a list that has been whittled more or less to Kansas State and Southern California.
There's a slight chance he might even eventually wear the uniform of the school he chooses.
Nothing about Mayo's young basketball career has been routine, and he might pull out some moves no one has ever seen.
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</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>Perhaps the most famous eighth-grade player ever, featured in national magazines and newspapers before he could drive a car, Mayo has spent the years since justifying the early attention. A 6-5 point guard, he has won two state basketball championships at Cincinnati's North College Hill High School. He is a wondrous talent -- agile, dynamic, preternaturally skilled, surprisingly unselfish. Had the NBA not instituted an age minimum that requires all players to be one year removed from high school graduation before entering its draft, Mayo certainly would have been sending a declaration letter to commissioner David Stern next spring.
The initial group of players affected by that age restriction, including Ohio State's Greg Oden and Texas' Kevin Durant, did what Stern had hoped. They chose college so they could be better trained and more widely known when they arrived in the league. Mayo might do the same.
But it's at least as likely he will spend 2007-08 earning endorsement money and performing on a professional barnstorming tour designed specifically to showcase and enhance his celebrity -- and that of the players who go along. It would be similar in form to the AND 1 Mix Tape Tour, and among the players who could be Mayo's bandmates are power forward Michael Beasley, a K-State recruit, and wing Bill Walker, Mayo's longtime friend who also plays at North College Hill.
Mayo has been quiet about his circumstances since a couple of school disciplinary incidents that occurred in the spring. His old cell phone number now carries a "not in service" message.
Sneaker company executives acknowledge Mayo likely would become a more valuable endorser if he played at a Division I college and enjoys extraordinary success as a freshman, a la Carmelo Anthony at Syracuse. However, they suggest even without such accomplishments, Mayo is likely to sign an apparel endorsement deal more lucrative than Anthony's initial Nike deal -- reportedly more than $20 million over six years. Why? Think back to last winter, when a game between North College Hill and Virginia's Oak Hill Academy sold out Cincinnati's US Bank Arena, with tickets priced between $15 and $40. The only teen who sells like Mayo is Harry Potter.
Mayo's appeal begins with his talent. He is big for a point guard. He is a capable passer who eagerly shares the ball. His accuracy from long distance ranks somewhere between Steve Kerr's and AT&T's. Mayo has the body control that separates elite athletes. Like LeBron James before, Mayo has seen his legend grow in large part because nothing ever seems too great for him. He exceeds whatever expectations are put in front of him.
A native of Huntington, W.Va., Mayo moved across the border to Kentucky as a seventh-grader because that state has no age restrictions for varsity players. He was all-state a year later. Mayo thus will enter his sixth year of high school ball this winter.
One college coach familiar with Mayo's recruiting is certain he will play Division I basketball as a freshman. That would be the simplest path to follow, probably the most lucrative and almost certainly the best for his development as a player. His next step, committing to a college just as he commences another July of dominating camps and tournaments, will appear conventional. To this point, however, Mayo has constructed a career like no one before. That seems unlikely to change now.
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SI

7/4

Striking subplots

Five story lines to watch in the upcoming season

Posted: Tuesday July 4, 2006 10:51AM;
Updated: Tuesday July 4, 2006 1:42PM

<!--endclickprintexclude--> By Ben Sylvan, Special to SI.com, SchoolSports.com


Greg Oden has graduated, making way for the 2006-07 basketball season to shape up as the year of O.J. Mayo. But there are plenty more players and story lines to follow this season, so here's your source for all things hoop.
O.J.'s Future

Where to begin with this one? The North College Hill (Cincinnati) guard's life has more drama than an episode of The O.C. The most interesting subplot surrounding Mayo this year is what he'll do after high school. Kansas State and USC are considered the front-runners to land him, but there are rumblings that he'll challenge the NBA age minimum. Even if NBA commissioner David Stern doesn't back down, Mayo could be offered lucrative endorsement deals, giving him millions of reasons to skip college and spend a year in the NBDL or in a European pro league before going to the NBA.
New Power

Kansas State hasn't been to the NCAA tournament since 1996, but that could soon change thanks to the hiring of Bob Huggins. Ever since Huggins was named head coach in March, loads of the nation's top recruits have been linked to the Wildcats. In fact, there's a decent chance that three of the top five recruits from the class of 2007 (Mayo, Bill Walker and Michael Beasley) and top 10 recruit Herb Pope of Aliquippa, Pa., could end up at K-State. If that's the case, the Wildcats would have their sights set on something much larger than just making the NCAA tournament in 2008.
Who's No. 1?

Last year we penciled in Lawrence North (Indianapolis) as the preseason No. 1 team and called it a day. With Oden and Mike Conley dominating inside and out, Lawrence North's reign at the top was never threatened. This year's field, however, is much more wide open. The return of Mayo and Walker could make Ohio's North College Hill the preseason favorite, but traditional powers Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) and DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) are always a factor. Artesia (Lakewood, Calif.) returns the heart of its 2005- 06 team and could make a run as well.
Michael Jordan's Air Apparents

This winter ESPN will broadcast a game between North Central (Indianapolis) and Loyola Academy (Wilmette, Ill.). North Central's Eric Gordon will be the game's highest-ranked baller, but Loyola will be the main attraction because its two best players, senior Jeffrey Jordan and sophomore Marcus Jordan, are the sons of the man himself. Loyola tried to shield MJ's boys from the national media for a while, but their talent has become too tough to hide. Jeffrey is a fringe top 50 recruit who's being pursued by Illinois and Oklahoma State, while Marcus projects to be even better. Cue the media storm.
Year 2 of the NBA Age Minimum

In Year 1 of the age minimum, traditional football school Ohio State became the trendy college of choice for top hoops recruits. With Kansas State emerging as a destination school in Year 2, nontraditional hoops schools appear to be the big winners from the NBA's age minimum. Despite not making the NCAA tournament last year, Dayton, Rutgers and Clemson have already taken advantage of the deeper player pool, landing top 50 recruits from the class of 2007. And with the recruiting season just getting started, expect to see more nontraditional schools land big recruits. Of course, this could all change if a few '07 studs challenge the NBA's rule.
 
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I asked four players who participated in a series of pickup games with Mayo in the North Gym on Thursday where the No. 1 player in the country will go to college and they unanimously said the same thing: USC.
None play for USC, so they didn’t exactly gain anything by saying it.

"He’s coming,’’ one said.

I think this is being misinterpreted. Was Mayo alone with some USC Song Girls when this comment was made? :wink2:
 
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Cincy

7/5/06

Putting their best foot forward

Prep hoops stars hoping to play college ball know they must step up at summer's shoe company camps

BY DUSTIN DOW | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

<!--ARTICLE BODY TEXT-->Forget about summer vacation - it doesn't exist for the nation's best high school basketball players, including several from Greater Cincinnati.

For them, the next four weeks entail pressure-filled résumé building on the court, not frolicking at Kings Island or in the swimming pool. Though there are five months to go before the start of the prep regular season, the most important games for premier high school players tip off Thursday with the start of the sneaker industry-controlled July college recruiting period.

"For any player that wants to get seen by college head coaches," said University of Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin, "July is the time."

Three prestigious summer camps will start the frenzy when hosts Nike, Reebok and adidas open gym doors in Indianapolis, New Jersey and Georgia.

Basketball futures will be made or lost as coaches flock to watch elite players from all 50 states and beyond. Coaches have 20 days - July 6-15, and July 22-31 - to see and be seen by the next crop of potential NCAA Tournament heroes.

"Imagine playing in a gym and all the bleachers are filled with college coaches," said North College Hill guard O.J. Mayo, who is the top-rated high school prospect in the nation according to most analysts.

"Coach Ks. Pitinos. Tubby Smiths," Mayo added. "You see all them guys and all their eyes are on you, and you're trying to showcase your ability. It's a whole different level."

HOOKING THEM EARLY

All of this unfolds with manipulation from Nike, adidas and Reebok. The Big Three shoe titans have run these camps for more than two decades and still battle to land the best teen-aged players in hope of developing all-important brand loyalty. Getting players into one of these camps is among the first steps in what the shoe companies - and players - hope ends in an endorsement deal.

"The thought is that we want to make a Nike impression on the players when they're young," said Uti Middleton, a marketing representative for Nike's summer camps. "Then when they graduate high school, they'll go to a Nike-sponsored college. Then when they go on to the NBA, they'll be loyal to Nike, wear Nikes, sign deals with Nike. Believe me, it works."

Middleton cited the Miami Heat's Antoine Walker, who is in adidas' stable of players, as a loyalist Nike was unable to sway. Walker grew up playing for an adidas summer team and signed with the German company as a pro.

But with the up-and-coming players, "there's no loyalty anymore," Middleton said.

"I'm sure adidas thinks of it as an investment down the road," said Tony Dees, father and summer coach of Yancy Gates, who plays for Hughes Center and the adidas-sponsored Cleveland Basketball Club. "We're glad to have the sponsorship. But we can't promise adidas anything in the future."

Nor could LeBron James, who played in adidas throughout his high school career, only to opt for Nike and a $90 million contract when he turned pro in 2003.

No other amateur player is coveted to the extent of Mayo, a senior-to-be at North College Hill. Shoe companies and major-college coaches monitor his every move, hoping to gain a sliver of camaraderie with the budding star, with whom a future relationship could bring fortunes.

"I'd correlate it directly to a college coach who's out recruiting," said adidas spokesperson Travis Gonzalez. "It's about being seen at players' games and having them at your camps."

MAKE-OR-BREAK TIME

Mayo's actions tend to cause commotion when they are related to what's on his feet. Just two months ago, the shoe company recruiting circuit was abuzz about how Mayo might bolt from Reebok when he briefly played for a Miami-based Nike team. But shoe deals don't weigh heavily on Mayo's mind just yet.

"You know, that stuff doesn't mean anything to me," he said recently after an open gym at Xavier University's Cintas Center. "I mean, look at what I'm wearing right now."

A head-to-toe glance revealed shoes, shorts and a tank top made by adidas, a company that has no formal links to Mayo or his summer basketball team, the Reebok-sponsored D1 Greyhounds.

Reebok funds the Greyhounds with close to $100,000 annually, which pays for air travel, hotels, uniforms, shoes, entry fees for tournaments and other team expenses. In return, Mayo wears Reebok shoes on the court.

Come Tuesday, Mayo is expected to be in Teaneck, N.J,. at Reebok's ABCD camp. That's where 200 or so of the best high school players are featured in matchups designed to identify the best of the best by the end of the week. College coaches may begin showing up Thursday, and they'll see heated competitions in which the winners are elevated to can't-miss-recruit status.

James experienced this phenomenon five years ago when his team squared off against that of higher-profile recruit Lenny Cooke. The two players went head to head, with James getting the better of Cooke. After that, James' career took off, culminating in his No. 1 selection in the 2003 NBA draft.

Cooke - in an extreme example of the risk of failing at one of these camps - disappeared from the recruiting radar. He managed to get onto low-level professional rosters overseas and domestically for a few years, but the Rockford Lightning of the Continental Basketball Association waived him in February, three months after signing him.

"That's why summer basketball is so great," said Reebok ABCD camp director Sonny Vaccaro, who also has worked for Nike and adidas. "High school basketball is just camouflage. The best don't go against each other."

FUTURES AT STAKE

The competition among these camps to snag a player like Mayo is fierce - and ongoing. Even in the final days leading to the start of its camp, Nike will hold out hope that Mayo will spurn Reebok and his close association with Vaccaro, who has known Mayo since he was in the eighth grade.

"I hope he comes to ABCD," said Vaccaro, who recruited Michael Jordan for Nike in the 1980s. "That's important to me personally. But I don't have a contract with O.J. He's free to do what he wants to do."

All three shoe giants have camps and tournaments throughout July after this week's big events. There are 221 NCAA-certified camps and tournaments - many affiliated with shoe companies - in place for coaches to recruit players.

For the best of the best, the high school season is incomparable to the drama of summer ball.

"During the high school season, one or two of the players on the other teams are good players," said Hughes' Gates, a 6-foot-8 center rated among the top players in the class of 2008. "During July, you see all the good players, as good as you are or better. It plays a big role, because all the college coaches are there watching you. You go out hard to perform, because you don't want to be seen as just an average player."

COMPANY CONNECTIONS

The atmosphere certainly is different from that of the average high school basketball game. Teams are stacked with all-star talent but usually play in front of stands scattered with only coaches and parents, even though the public can purchase tickets. There are no cheerleaders or mascots, because that's not the point.

"As much as we want to be purists in a sense it's all for the love of the game, the shoe companies have picked up the ball where high school associations drop it," said Dru Joyce, James' former high school and summer basketball coach in Akron. "It's just a reality. The shoe companies fund a lot of teams."

But at college commitment time, shoe companies can't control everything. In general, few players are choosing schools based on the logo adorning shoes or uniforms.

"If that were the case," said Chris Mack, an assistant at Nike-sponsored Xavier University, "we wouldn't recruit adidas or Reebok kids."

And to be sure, coaching staffs travel to camps and tournaments hosted by each of the companies, lest they miss out on a potential star prospect.

UC's Cronin said about "80 percent of recruiting is normal," meaning parents and players make decisions without shoe company influence. Occasions do exist, however, when college coaches - who receive lucrative sponsorship contracts from shoe companies - benefit from their relationships with the sneaker businesses.

For instance, Kansas State coach Bob Huggins' longtime dealings with Nike paved the way for the Wildcats to snare a pair of South Florida recruits shortly after the former UC coach arrived in Manhattan, Kan.

Miami Tropics players Jason Bennett and Louis Colon committed to Kansas State because of Huggins' connection to the Nike-sponsored Tropics' coach, Art Alvarez.

"My loyalty is with Nike," Alvarez said, "and I'm going to do whatever I can do to help Nike."

E-mail [email protected]
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Not really Mayo related, more of an observation regarding high school basketball recruiting - "My loyalty is with Nike", coming from a coach? Call me old-fashioned, but a coach's first responsibility is to help guide young people through the process (of life, not just the sport). Your "loyalty" should be what's best for the student, allowing them to find the situation that will best prepare them for what comes next in life, regardless of what type of shoes a college wears. The loyalty is to the kids, not a shoe company. Sorry to be off-topic, we now return to the recruitment of O.J. Mayo.
 
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Not really Mayo related, more of an observation regarding high school basketball recruiting - "My loyalty is with Nike", coming from a coach? Call me old-fashioned, but a coach's first responsibility is to help guide young people through the process (of life, not just the sport). Your "loyalty" should be what's best for the student, allowing them to find the situation that will best prepare them for what comes next in life, regardless of what type of shoes a college wears. The loyalty is to the kids, not a shoe company. Sorry to be off-topic, we now return to the recruitment of O.J. Mayo.

This is almost exactly like what the school board at NCH said about Mayo and Walker. I don't have a link, but something like they didnt care that Mayo or Walker were talking about leaving because they had made the school enough money for the next 8 years. Absolute crap when you are more concerned about corporations and money than you are about the well-being of students.
 
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http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2510229

<H1>Sources: O.J. Mayo told USC staff he was committing
<!-- end pagetitle --><!-- begin bylinebox -->By Andy Katz
ESPN.com

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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-TOP: 10px" vAlign=top><!-- begin leftcol --><!-- template inline -->O.J. Mayo, the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2007, told the USC coaching staff and players last week that he would commit to the Trojans, multiple sources told ESPN.com.
The 6-foot-4 Mayo, as recognizable a high school recruiting name as LeBron James and Greg Oden, made the statement while on his unofficial recruiting visit last week in Los Angeles. He still needs to make that sentiment public, though. He could do so as early as this weekend at the Reebok ABCD Camp on the campus of Fairleigh Dickinson in Teaneck, N.J.

ncb_a_mayo2_195.jpg

AP Photo/Al Behrman
Wherever Mayo lands, he will make an immediate splash.


High school recruits often say one thing to a coaching staff to appease them and then sign somewhere else during the fall and spring signing periods, but multiple sources told ESPN.com that the Trojans simply are awaiting official word from Mayo. Even after he makes an announcement, though, the Trojans would have to hang on to his commitment until the November signing period.
NCAA rules forbid college coaches from commenting publicly on commitments until they receive a signed national letter of intent. That said, if Mayo makes it official this weekend -- or anytime before the fall -- he would immediately go down as the most significant recruit in USC basketball history.
Mayo still could still have other alternatives instead of going to college in the fall of 2007. There is a possibility he could go overseas for a year or compete in a barnstorming tour with other high-profile players who are prohibited from entering the NBA draft until they are at least one year out of high school and at least 19 years of age. Details of possible moves like this are expected to be explored in September.
Still, those would be unchartered waters. The more traditional approach for Mayo would be to do what Oden did -- go to school for at least one year. Oden chose Ohio State and is projected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2007 NBA draft if he declares. Mayo, who is still scheduled to finish his high school career at North College Hill in Cincinnati, is a potential No. 1 overall pick in 2008 if he were to declare.
"[Mayo] could change a program and give it instant credibility," said a source. "He sees the big market and knows that he's not too far away from being marketed. [Going to USC] would only help him and he's confident enough to win a national championship."
The assumption for over a year was that Mayo would go to Cincinnati if Bob Huggins were still employed there, or follow him to wherever he landed, which ended up being Kansas State. Multiple sources told ESPN.com, though, that USC coach Tim Floyd received a phone call in November that Mayo was interested.
Mayo then played in an event in Los Angeles in December, with reports surfacing that he was interested in a West Coast school. The assumption at the time was that it was UCLA, but by December, it had been made clear to USC that it was the Trojans, not the Bruins, who were in the hunt.
Multiple sources said that Mayo wanted to be in a major media market and that he told the USC staff that he didn't want to be just another name at a school like Duke or North Carolina. He wanted to win big, go to the NBA and already have been marketed in a media center. Sources also said that Mayo was very aware of the attention that USC's back-to-back Heisman winners Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart received the past two seasons.
"He's a little bit different for a kid his age," a source said.
Mayo was in Los Angeles last week from Wednesday to Friday. He met with the coaching staff, played with USC's returning players on campus and had a conversation with USC athletic director Mike Garrett. The meeting with USC coach Tim Floyd was the first for both parties. A source said Floyd has only talked to Mayo a handful of times, with Mayo -- more than USC -- leading the recruitment.
That's what makes this even more of a coup for the Trojans, assuming it becomes official. Even though he coached in the NBA at Chicago and New Orleans, Floyd has only had one highly-rated freshman in his college career -- Marcus Fizer, while he was at Iowa State.
The timing of a Mayo commitment couldn't come at a better time for the Trojans. USC is still emotionally spent after dealing with the tragic death of freshman point guard Ryan Francis and also needs to overcome the first-semester ineligibility of star shooting guard Gabe Pruitt. The Trojans are also opening its new arena, the Galen Center, this fall.
A Mayo commitment may lead to another major coup if teammate and close friend Bill Walker, another top-10 player in the class of 2007, were to follow him to USC. The two have said for the past two years that they would play together in college.
Andy Katz is a senior writer for ESPN.com.

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RockyMountainnews.com

7/6/06

Sources: Mayo to commit to USC this weekend

By Scott Wolf, Los Angeles Daily News

July 6, 2006

<!-- /byline -->The stature of USC basketball could take a major leap forward this week, because guard O.J. Mayo, the nation’s No. 1-ranked player, is expected to commit to the Trojans, according to sources.


Mayo told several USC players and recruits last week he would officially commit to the Trojans during this weekend’s ABCD basketball camp in Teaneck, N.J.

And it could be a package deal, because Mayo, who lives in Cincinnati, wants to bring high school teammate, Bill Walker, the No. 2 player in the nation by Rivals.com, and center Aaron Pogue of Dayton, Ohio.

Mayo’s commitment would shake up college basketball and give USC a national image in a sport usually overshadowed by football.

"He’s probably second only to LeBron James in the last five or six years in terms of perimeter players coming out of high school," said ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla, who previously coached at St. John’s and New Mexico.

"Since seeing him as a sophomore two summers ago, I thought he was the guard version of (incoming Ohio State center) Greg Oden, who I think is the player of the last decade in high school.

"He’s not the athlete LeBron James is, but he’s in the LeBron James category."

Mayo visited USC last week and played several pickup games in the North Gym.

"He’s a good player. We played two games together and we won both," said center Mamadou Diarra of Stoneridge Prep in Simi Valley. Diarra, who said he will also commit to USC this week, said Mayo told him he would attend USC.

Mayo’s decision could surprise fans across the country. As recently as April, many assumed he would attend Kansas State, which is coached by former Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins.

But several factors influenced his apparent decision to favor USC:

•Mayo wants to play in a big media market like Los Angeles to set up endorsement opportunities for his potential NBA career.
•He was impressed with USC winning three of the past four Heisman trophies and the high-profile assumed by football players Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush.
•He also wants to establish a basketball program as a national power.
Several sources said Mayo would like to create a scenario similar to when center Patrick Ewing committed to Georgetown and took the Hoyas to the national title game his freshman year.

He wants to work with a former NBA coach, and USC’s Tim Floyd previously coached the Chicago Bulls and New Orleans Hornets.

"If he spends a year in college, he might as well pick a great city to live in, with a former NBA coach, in a very good league and a brand new arena," Fraschilla said. "USC has all the components.

"On the surface, the average fan says ‘Why USC?’ But when you analyze is, it’s a good fit."

Fraschilla said he believes Oden’s decision to attend Ohio State will give the Buckeyes prestige with recruits and that a Mayo-to-USC announcement could have a similar effect.

"It’s a good marriage of convenience," he said. "It elevates their program.

O.J. Mayo could make the Trojans the chic choice even if he’s only there a year."

And make no mistake, Mayo will only spend one year in college. No one at USC believes otherwise.

Fraschilla said another reason for Mayo attending USC would be to move closer to one of his advisors, Sonny Vaccaro, who works for Reebok and lives in Calabasas.

"He stays close geographically to a guy who influences his career, Sonny Vaccaro," Fraschilla said.

Mayo began playing varsity basketball as a seventh-grader at Rose Hill Christian in Ashland, Ky. — the state does not have an age limit for playing on a high-school team. He averaged 23.1 points as a seventh grader and 20.5 as an eighth grader.

Following his eighth-grade season, Mayo transferred to North College Hill in Cincinnati. He averaged between 27 and 30 points per game his first three seasons and was named Ohio’s Mr. Basketball his sophomore and junior years.
There has also been some controversy. Mayo has been involved in two altercations and was suspended last spring following an incident with a female student.
 
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