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O.J. Mayo (Official Thread)

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Dispatch

Just passing through
Star guard Mayo wants to win title at USC before taking his game to NBA
Saturday, November 3, 2007 3:51 AM
By Beth Harris


ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Reed SaxonAssociated Press
Southern California didn't have to work hard to recruit O.J. Mayo. The 6-foot-5 guard from West Virginia called coach Tim Floyd and said he wanted to join the Trojans.

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NEAL C. LAURONdispatch
O.J. Mayo led North College Hill to a win over Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph in the Division III final in Value City Arena in 2006.



LOS ANGELES -- O.J. Mayo is making a stopover on his way to the NBA. Thanks to the rule that keeps high school seniors from jumping directly to the league, Mayo is detouring to Southern California.
The 18th-ranked Trojans are thrilled to have the 6-foot-5 guard who has been a celebrity since he emerged as a junior high star in West Virginia.
Mayo's journey from the mountains of his home state to celebrity-studded Los Angeles was unusual. Coach Tim Floyd didn't make umpteen recruiting trips and calls to land Mayo. Instead, the teenager hand-picked the Trojans.

Continued.....
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Two Articles

Two freshmen, old pals, have arrived in L.A. to turn a classic football rivalry into a crosstown hoops war. It's USC vs. UCLA. It's O.J. Mayo vs. Kevin Love \

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Love (right) and Mayo first faced each other as eighth-graders in the title game at an AAU tournament.

You ready?"
The late-night bull session had lasted more than three hours, and now the top two basketball recruits in the land -- the center from Oregon and the guard from West Virginia -- exchanged assassins' smiles over the lukewarm remnants of a pizza in their room at The James hotel in Chicago. It was nearly 4 a.m. on April 4, a few hours after Kevin Love and O.J. Mayo had been named MVPs of their respective teams at the Roundball Classic high school all-star game, and the two friends had traded thousands of words outlining their common dreams: forging Hall of Fame careers, winning NCAA and NBA titles and, as Love recalls with a laugh, "whipping each other's asses when we get to L.A."
But no two words were as deliciously charged as the ones Love spoke to end the evening: "You ready?"

Entire article: SI.com - Writers - Grant Wahl: A Fight Between Friends - Tuesday November 13, 2007 10:32AM


The O.J. Mayo story

USC's freshman phenom took long road to California

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O.J. Mayo ended up at USC against his mother's wishes, but he has the ability to carry the Trojans far.

To kick things off, though, we're taking only one question this week, and it happens to be our own:
What do you make of USC's O.J. Mayo?
--The Bagman, Baltimore, Md. (That's right: we've changed cities. Time to make peace, Terps fans, the Bag loves it here.)
For starters, too many people wrote off Mayo and USC after their season-opening loss to Mercer. Tim Floyd's Trojans have a ways to go, but the return of Daniel Hackett (who had a triple-double in USC's rebound win at South Carolina) means Mayo and Taj Gibson won't be the only weapons at the Galen Center. The young Trojans will get clipped some more in the next month (Memphis and Kansas are on the schedule), but they'll win their share of games by season's end.
Anyway, we spent two hours talking to Mayo for our story on O.J. and UCLA's Kevin Love in Sports Illustrated's college basketball preview issue, and both players are extremely good interviews. In fact, after the negative rep he got in high school I'd say that Mayo is his own best advertisement, a thoughtful guy who was willing to talk at length about basketball, his own missteps and any number of topics, including:

Entire article: SI.com - Writers - Grant Wahl: The O.J. Mayo story - Wednesday November 21, 2007 3:28PM
 
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Dispatch

Overheard: O.J. Mayo

Thursday, December 6, 2007 3:08 AM

"I'm just trying to get better as a player. I'm not perfect, but I strive to be perfect. Nobody plays perfect, but I just try to get better." -- O.J. Mayo, Southern California freshman guard who missed seven straight shots from the field Tuesday in a 62-58 overtime loss to No. 2 Memphis. Mayo scored 16 points.
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This will probably be considered a secondary violation, for which Mayo will have to re-pay the value of the tickets ($230 each) to charity. He could also be suspended for 1 game.

latimes

NCAA won't comment on Mayo's Lakers tickets


Gary A. Vasquez / US PRESSWIRE​
USC freshman guard O.J. Mayo said he was given two complimentary tickets to attend Monday's Lakers-Denver Nuggets game at Staples Center by Nuggets All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony.


[COLOR=#999999! important]By Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
11:53 AM PST, January 23, 2008 [/COLOR]
The NCAA is aware of free Lakers tickets provided to USC freshman guard O.J. Mayo, but a spokesperson said today that the organization would not comment on current, pending or potential investigations.

USC sports information director Tim Tessalone said the school's compliance officials would not comment on potential NCAA violations or whether they were investigating the matter.

Mayo on Tuesday said he was given two complimentary tickets to attend Monday's Lakers-Denver Nuggets game at Staples Center by Nuggets All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony.

NCAA bylaw 16.11.2.2.3 states that student-athletes may not receive "free or reduced-cost admission to professional athletics contests from professional sports organizations, unless such services also are available to the student body in general."

Cont ...
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On another note the L.A Basketball scene is hot right now. Good teams with an abundance of talent. I need to check out more SC games, Jefferson is a balla,he and Mayo make up quite a combo.

It's going to be hard to lure someone like Renardo Sidney away from that climate,USC and UCLA look very attractive right now.
 
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The NCAA Rules On The O.J. Mayo Ticket Situation :: Freshman allowed to play after making charitable contribution

USC had asked for an interpretation from the NCAA on whether it was a violation for O.J. Mayo to receive tickets to an NBA game from Carmelo Anthony, an individual with whom he had a pre-existing relationship. USC received an answer from the NCAA earlier today. The NCAA ruled it a violation, therefore at that time USC declared him ineligible and petitioned for his reinstatement. As a condition of his reinstatement, the NCAA said that he had to make a charitable contribution of $460 based on the value of the tickets. He and his family did that today, therefore late this afternoon the NCAA restored his eligibility and he will be able to play in tomorrow's game against Oregon.
"We are happy with the outcome of this situation and are glad we can put this behind us," said USC head coach Tim Floyd. "I feel bad that I gave O.J. some incorrect advice. We all learned some lessons through this process. We appreciate the hard work done by our compliance office and the NCAA staff."
 
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Applaudable of Tim Floyd to step up and try and take the heat for his player, but.....lame. "I told him he could go because the tickets were from a friend." Oh, they were from a friend? Well that changes everything. Thank goodness they're not from greasy boosters calling themselves friends, because that would be so wrong. That excuse certainly works when players' families are living rent-free in sprawling mansions or when hired at a job that pays them thousands a month to change the toilet paper at a car dealership or being given Flag Day presents that go from 0 to 60 in 5 seconds flat.

A valiant effort, Mr. Floyd, and very nice of you to attempt to shield your freshman from the fire-breathing dragon that is the NCAA when they find a player accepting so much as a ride home, but next time, hopefully the advice goes something like, "Dude, you know you can't take free shit from people."
 
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