http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3390695

Accepting thousands of dollars worth of gifts, cash, and other benefits from an agency since he was in high school.


Another in the long list of USC "stars" violating NCAA regs. Don't think they'll get out of it this time.

5/12/2008 7:50:00 AM

Watch the Outside The Lines report on sportcenter this morning if you can. the evidence is very damning.

Edit: here's the link to the report
http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3390822&categoryId=3286128

it'd be interesting to see how this effects USC's bball program. hopefully, they'll get more punishment than the football program did over reggie bush.

[Edited on May 12, 2008 at 8:18 AM. Reason : .]

5/12/2008 8:16:44 AM

Change the S to an N and I'd be happy.

[Edited on May 12, 2008 at 8:17 AM. Reason : /]

5/12/2008 8:16:51 AM

haha, good luck. no one will ever touch duke or unc's bball programs.

5/12/2008 8:18:56 AM

fucking U$C


this really shouldn't surprise anyone

5/12/2008 8:18:59 AM

Quote :

"Guillory gave Mayo the flat-screen television, a hotel room and meals -- and paid for it with a credit card that belongs to a nonprofit organization called "The National Organization of Sickle Cell Prevention and Awareness Foundation.""

5/12/2008 8:32:35 AM

Quote :

"The National Organization of Sickle Cell Prevention and Awareness Foundation."

Props for coming up with a random long believable charity name.

5/12/2008 8:47:40 AM

i love the redundancy of organization and foundation in the title of the name


and yes that was on purpose

5/12/2008 9:10:46 AM

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/21/sports/ncaabasketball/21usc.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

I love this article by the NY times. It was shady even before he came to college. I'm pretty sure Tim Floyd knew about it, but just turned the blind eye.

5/12/2008 9:31:18 AM

Like they said today on sportscenter, if coaches didn't recruit any kid with a shady past/and or connections, they would have nobody to recruit.

I don't think it excuses anyone in this, just said that the sport has gotten so far to this point, and that these adults leech off the kids the way they do.

5/12/2008 10:03:48 AM

Shoe-sponsored AAU tournaments expose kids to the underworld of basketball really early these days. You can get to know agency reps for almost six years before you even set foot in college. All that influence isn't just going to go away when choosing a school or making the decision to go pro.

5/12/2008 10:15:28 AM

While it may be true that there are a lot of athletes with shady friends/connections, it is up to the university and the coaches/advisors to try and keep those elements away from the athletes and the program. For the most part, I think the schools have been successful at doing this. However, when there is someone like Mayo, who just about EVERYONE seemed to think would be guilty of something (as per many news stories regarding how he ended up at USC in the first place), the school/coaches need to watch him like a hawk, because they can be sure that someone else certainly will.

And now that this is out, I hope USC gets absolutely blasted by the NCAA because they 100% deserve it.

5/12/2008 10:32:07 AM

Quote :

"While it may be true that there are a lot of athletes with shady friends/connections, it is up to the university and the coaches/advisors to try and keep those elements away from the athletes and the program."

Mayo was already corrupted before he ever talked to Floyd and USC!

And due to the NBA's age rule, Mayo was going to have to go to some college, it's not like he was not going to play organized basketball for one year so as to keep his agent, the D-League is a joke, he wasn't going to Europe for a year, it was just dependent on what college would take him.

This is very widespread IMO. The only reason this got out with Mayo was cause one guy was upset he got cut out of the money loop and went and snitched. It wasn't because of some newspaper investigation, Southern California, USC's rivals like UCLA trying to hurt them, the NBA, the police, or the NCAA. It was just a damn snitch. So we've just proven that all those organizations' investigative arms are either impotent or incompetent. Now, how many O.J. Mayos are there in college basketball with this situation each year?

Honestly, screw the one-and-dones, just let all these high schoolers that want to go pro do it.


[Edited on May 12, 2008 at 10:53 AM. Reason : /]

5/12/2008 10:47:03 AM

Quote :

"And due to the NBA's age rule, Mayo was going to have to go to some college, it's not like he was not going to play organized basketball for one year,"

He was already 19 when he graduated high school. Couldn't he have gone to the NBA?

5/12/2008 10:52:15 AM

you have to be a year removed from your graduating high school class

5/12/2008 10:58:32 AM

Quote :

"The reality for college basketball isn’t whether there was one potential lottery pick who got paid by agents; it’s whether there is one who didn’t. Sunday one agent claimed barring the unusual exception, you can’t sign “a top-15 player in the draft unless you have invested $100,000 with the kid (or his people) already.” Another source said at least four agencies were active in getting Mayo, BDA just won out. And last week agent David Falk told CNBC that one agent paid $500,000 for a player this year. Every agent knows which player he is talking about. Half a million might sound outlandish until you do the math and realize an agent can get between four and 10 percent commission on various contracts, including endorsements. A great player can easily earn $100 million in just a few years. What businessman wouldn’t pay $500,000 to get, say, $7 million back? What player or his handlers wouldn’t ask for it? Only Brand could pretend that NCAA rules can stop the machine of American capitalism. Only he could think that agents, financial planners, shoe companies and so on are going to just give up on making a buck and pretend they don’t know O.J. Mayo’s true worth. The NCAA can run as many commercials as it wants but there are thousands of NCAA student-athletes and some of them know how to count. Mayo, according to ESPN, made a verbal deal with BDA’s Calvin Andrews in the ninth grade. This isn’t uncommon for a prospect of his ability and reputation. Current New Orleans Hornets center Tyson Chandler once said he met his first agent when he was in junior high. The difference is Chandler was never the NCAA’s compliance headache. He was allowed to play professional basketball after graduating from high school. Mayo was forced to play charades. Mayo never had much interest or use for college, which is fine. It’s not for everyone. But Stern had in an interest to using college to clean the image and promote the play of incoming rookies, so off to campus it was for O.J. and dozens like him to pretend this made sense. The NCAA went right along. It might always like to blame all its problems on the underworld of basketball but when the chance came to get a quick talent influx they invited it right back into the house. Agents control the recruiting process for top players these days. They get them young and then divvy them off to schools to rent for a year and then get them back for the draft. It’s the case for virtually all the major players at all the major schools. And everyone inside the game knows it. The folks at NCAA included, they just pretend otherwise. The blame will assuredly fall on Mayo since a supposed greedy kid is an easy target. The truth is he was forced to operate in a business model that can’t work. "

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/news?slug=dw-mayo051108&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

5/12/2008 11:07:15 AM

5/12/2008 11:15:21 AM

I agree with Bob Knight's criticism of the one year rule. Why make a kid go to college for one year, when he has no interest in being there and won't be there long enough to bother doing his schoolwork, etc? The NCAA should suck it up and adopt a multi-year policy like football, or an either-or like baseball. Quit the charade of the one-year "student-athlete".

5/12/2008 11:22:29 AM

Yeah I think the baseball either or rule would work out well.

5/12/2008 11:35:56 AM

Los Angeles is chock full of bullshit, shady deals, lies, and most importantly money.

5/12/2008 11:41:07 AM

I wish lottery pick type players would go to Europe for a year instead of college. just to spite them

5/12/2008 11:49:13 AM

^ and paid on top of it.

Eventually, someone's going to get smart enough and have deep enough pockets to set up a small pro league for people of any age to play in. Maybe one of the shoe companies as a way to get their feet in the door to sign young stars.

And what's the easiest way to get the NBA and NCAA to change their rules? Threaten them with competition in the basketball marketplace and the potential to lose market share.

[Edited on May 12, 2008 at 11:59 AM. Reason : /]

5/12/2008 11:56:32 AM

I hardly think there is enough demand for a league built on a handful of one-and-done HS stars, especially when they realize they can get 10x the exposure in college.

5/12/2008 1:21:00 PM

You also forgot to mention all of the sweet college ass that they get.

5/12/2008 1:34:48 PM

if the NCAA institute the rule like baseball, most of the top players will turn pro just like baseball. Also, the MLB has a whole lot better minor league system than the NBA does.

5/12/2008 5:39:31 PM

They will never, ever have a minor-league basketball system. The NCAA knows there is WAY too much money to lose as far as individual schools and the NCAA itself is concerned. One-and-dones can revitalize a downtrodden program, just like Mayo did to USC (Although allegedly unfair/dishonest).

BTW, at what point does DeMar DeRozan start getting worried about going to $C? Especially since he's already been linked with a stupid recruiting "scandal". (Lil Romeo will be on a basketball scholarship at $C next year, DeRozan and Master P have been friends for years, Lil Romeo isn't good enough to play Div III ball, etc.)

[Edited on May 12, 2008 at 6:00 PM. Reason : a]

5/12/2008 5:55:33 PM

Quote :

"One-and-dones can revitalize a downtrodden program, just like Mayo did to USC (Although allegedly unfair/dishonest)."

They made the Sweet 16 last year without Mayo and bowed out in the 1st round this year with him.

5/12/2008 6:05:50 PM

I was thinking more in terms of attendance and hype (ala what would have happened if NCSU got him), but you are correct... With this new controversy gaining steam, thought I'd bring this up in terms of Floyd's and U$C basketballs reputation... About Lil Romeo and DeRozan....

Quote :

"Miller also says that several universities offered him basketball scholarships, including Louisiana State and Arizona State. In an interview, he says "it was kind of a surprise" that he and Mr. DeRozan both ended up at USC. During a recent appearance on ESPN, Mr. Miller said that Florida State and UC-Berkeley were "in the mix as well." John Brady, who was recently fired as LSU's basketball coach, says his staff did not recruit Mr. Miller. At Arizona State, "there was not serious recruitment," says a spokesman. Florida State and UC-Berkeley say Mr. Miller visited each campus. (However, both schools say there was no scholarship offer.)"

Yet Floyd decided that Romeo (who averaged 8.6 points per game his senior season on a bad team) was worthy of a scholarship. He and DeRozan signed on the same day...

[Edited on May 12, 2008 at 6:13 PM. Reason : qw]

5/12/2008 6:11:09 PM

Considering a dumb rule made it so he wasn't allowed to go to the NBA and probably cost him several million dollars, all this hub-bub is retarded.

5/12/2008 6:12:52 PM

My question is how the fuck do people not notice this? I mean, if a college freshman who had next to no money ended up with a giant flatscreen tv on his wall, how do you think it fucking got there?

The same is true for all the other gifts. A coach would have to be an idiot to not stop by his room at least once or to pay attention to what his star recruit is wearing, driving, etc. These coaches are to blame more than anyone else, because they have the true leverage over the player. If your only job is to keep up with these 15 guys all year long, you'd figure that you could arrange to keep track of things.

5/12/2008 10:32:58 PM

My Question is....why does any of this ever matter? So he got paid. Big fucking deal. Pretty much every program is dirty...yes even ours. People only care about the good programs who cheat. People could give to shits if we cheat. Cheating is a big part of NCAA sports, it only matters though if you are a winner. So we are pretty much free to pay whoever, whatever as long as we keep losing.

5/12/2008 10:52:04 PM

5/12/2008 10:58:47 PM

If we are cheating we are doing a pretty terrible job at it.

5/12/2008 11:03:47 PM

Honestly, the agents etc need to be held accountable. If an agency gets caught doing this, they need to get fined big time. It seems the only part that seems to have no part in it....the schools, are the ones that get punished. The players and agents have no deterrent to not do this. Perhaps if a college player would lose 50% the first 5 years of being pro, or an agency would get fined $5mil, this shit would stop. Usually the schools are not at fault for the most part.

5/12/2008 11:09:46 PM

A lot of people could see this coming at $C. Anyone with even a little knowledge of U$C sports knew something else was going down. UCLA fans have been all over these stories before they were stories. The LA media has a boner for U$C that puts the N&O's for UNC to shame.

Look who broke the Bush story AND the Mayo story. Fucking Yahoo Sports. Not the LA Times.

I'm guessing Petey Pom-Pom is next. Plenty of scandal already in the football program and now they'll be under intense scrutiny.

5/13/2008 8:11:09 AM

this whole "U$C" thing is pretty gay

5/13/2008 8:28:02 AM

^^^ except for the whole part about the agents not actually doing anything illegal. Last time I checked, agents and the agencies they work for aren't bound by NCAA regulations.

5/13/2008 8:42:38 AM

Pro leagues and agents could care less about amateur status. This is strictly an NCAA issue, unless laws were broken. In that case, it would also be a legal issue.

5/13/2008 8:52:55 AM

^ I'd be willing to bet that they didn't pay taxes on the gifts and money provided to them. If they exceed $11000, then they should be charged with tax evasion.

Quote :

"People only care about the good programs who cheat."

If anything, history has shown us that the opposite is true. The elite programs can get away with just about anything because they bring in the most revenues. The somewhat good programs are the ones that seem to be targeted with the heaviest sanctions, to create an appearance of the NCAA taking action against schools for violations. See NCSU in DT-crashing-in-a-buddys-dorm-room-gate and sneakergate.

5/13/2008 8:54:10 AM

^Good point on the tax evasion.

http://www.statefansnation.com/index.php/archives/2008/05/11/usc-tim-floyd-look-to-be-in-trouble-over-oj-mayo/

Good blog post by SFN. USC really stinks to high heaven. USC and Ohio State have been the worst known offenders in football and basketball, and the NCAA has refused to impose real sanctions for major violations at both schools in the last 5 years.

5/13/2008 9:08:41 AM

Ironically I believe Tim Floyd had quit actively recruiting Mayo, he just sent them a random fax that he would be coming there.

I am sure he didn't complain. Part of me does feel for these coaches, yes they make tons of money but it isn't really fair that the job description not only includes coaching and recruiting, but monitoring the finances and contacts of several young men at all times. That isn't an easy task to do.

5/13/2008 9:28:58 AM

Guillory had gotten USC in trouble like 5 years earlier...why would Floyd have him in the program

5/13/2008 9:38:35 AM

Quote :

"Honestly, the agents etc need to be held accountable. If an agency gets caught doing this, they need to get fined big time. It seems the only part that seems to have no part in it....the schools, are the ones that get punished. The players and agents have no deterrent to not do this. Perhaps if a college player would lose 50% the first 5 years of being pro, or an agency would get fined $5mil, this shit would stop. Usually the schools are not at fault for the most part."

Of course the schools have a role...who do you think benefits from all those millions the football and basketball squad brings in? It's the same reason pathetic Lee Fowler is still here despite rampant mediocrity in all aspects of NCSU athletics. Money fucking talks. Could the board/chancellor at USC reign this in? Sure they could, but the risk reward is simply too much in their favor under the current system. We're the NCAA to start doling out the death penalty, you'd see this shit change with a quickness.

5/13/2008 9:40:55 AM

Quote :

"Usually the schools are not at fault for the most part.""

Uhh, when a street agent rolls into the head coaches office, and claims he'll deliver a McD AA to you for no reason, and the coach asks to contact said recruit and he can't because the recruit "doesn't give out his number, he'll call you"....it should be an enormous red flag. It's ridiculous to think that USC didn't know that reggie bush's parents were living in a house they didn't pay for. They won't get touched though. Although I thought it was interesting that Mayo only received roughly 30K out of this, that's really nothing when you compare it to Reggie Bush. I mean 30K over 4 years? That's crumbs...

5/13/2008 9:50:10 AM

if Kevin Sampson gets fired over calling recruits, then Tim Floyd should get fired for this.

5/13/2008 9:51:29 AM

Quote :

"Were the NCAA to start doling out the death penalty, you'd see this shit change with a quickness. "

They don't have the balls to do that again.

5/13/2008 9:56:26 AM

Everyone is to blame, the problem is the only people that are punished are coaches and schools.

So as long as nothing happens to the players and agents, it will continue. Even if this blows up to all be true, which it seems, by that time Mayo will have already signed a huge ass contract, and BMD sports or whatever will be collecting their massive 10%. So why would these people stop, in the long run they get rich.

Again, I know this falls on the schools and coaches to keep their programs clean but I also think that this is a situation where the agents/sports boosters have gotten extremely sophisticated. If this guy doesn't turn against Mayo and go on outside the lines this story never breaks. They use fake CC's and move money around in different ways that would be tough for schools and coaches to follow.

My point is just that I think it is harder then people think for the schools and coaches to keep tabs on all these players, their finances, who is in their ear, etc.

5/13/2008 10:08:34 AM

The coaches should definitely be held accountable. I mean the guy had a huge flat screen television in his dorm room. How does a guy that comes from a single parent home in bumfuck West Virginia able to afford such? Also how does he explain him having the money to fly his friends and family across country to nearly every game and put them up in a hotel?

5/13/2008 10:27:09 AM

but is it the coaches' job to go in all the players' dorm rooms and question them about anything that seems out of the ordinary?

5/13/2008 10:30:39 AM

Quote :

"My question is how the fuck do people not notice this? I mean, if a college freshman who had next to no money ended up with a giant flatscreen tv on his wall, how do you think it fucking got there?"

The same way all college kids do it:

Credit cards. Which brings it to another reason why this is retarded. Everyone who even remotely knows who the guy is also knows he'll be a multi-millionaire within a year or two. You're telling me that based of that he's not going to get pre-approved for at least a handful of high balance credit cards?

5/13/2008 10:34:15 AM