OJ Mayo Going Pro

[tornado]

Not coming back to USC

http://www.latimes.com/sports/college/basketball/la-sp-mayo10apr10,1,5107484.story

[mexicobufan]

Will this open a spot for Larry Anderson, I thought he said he was hoping for an offer from USC?

[Da Coach]

I don't see it.
USC already has several players committed that are similar to Larry Anderson--
Demar DeRozan 6'6" SF, SG -5-stars, rated the #1 small forward in the country

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=8&c=1&nid=1778009

Malik Story 6'5" prep school shooting guard-

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=8&c=1&nid=1813570

And Marcus Johnson, a 6'6" SF, SG 4-star transfer from Connecticut will be eligible at the semester break in December.--

http://usc.scout.com/a.z?s=15&p=8&c=1&nid=450015

Plus, I think Tim Floyd has already been recruiting with the knowledge that Mayo would not be back next year.

[mexicobufan]

Great, lets hope he becomes a Brave!!!!

[Braves4Life]

Mayo Crooked

Now we know why (of course, we already suspected this).

It makes you wonder how prevelant this is among the "big boy" BCS schools...............and, it makes you wonder how much Tim Floyd really knew but chose to "look the other way".

From ESPN's "Outside The Lines"......................

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

[Da Coach]

It makes you wonder how prevelant this is among the "big boy" BCS schools...............and, it makes you wonder how much Tim Floyd really knew but chose to "look the other way".

From ESPN's "Outside The Lines"......................

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

This will get as much attention from the Infractions people at the NCAA as the hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts Reggie Bush received at USC.

If they do decide to punish someone, they will impose another 7 game suspension on Patrick O'Bryant just to send a stronger message.

One more thought--This guy making these charges is described as a "a former Mayo associate", and "a part of Mayo's inner circle until recently". The article desribes him as somewhat of a scam artist himself, associating himself with a phony charity to channel money to himself and O.J. Mayo.
But now he must be on the outside, and no longer making money from the "golden goose", so now he is willing to rat on Mayo and others.
I would like to see an ESPN "Outside the Lines" story just on the culture of these pampered superstar athletes, and their "posses".

[tornado]

I guess I am dumbfounded that there are still people (pretty much only USC fans and supporters of everything the NCAA does or doesn't do with sanctions) who still don't think anything was wrong with the OJ Mayo situation.

The guy's own agent is testifying he paid OJ tens of thousands of dollars, and we have seen that his close confidant, Bob Huggins, actually ran him out at Kansas State because it was so obvious that there were serious financial conflicts and obvious evidence of OJ getting paid big time.

So-- just wondering if there's anything more obvious than OJ was taking cash while supposedly playing at USC as an amateur?

I don't think so, but then the NCAA never agreed that Kentucky was sending cash by Fedex to their recruits either...they seem to have a serious problem recognizing the obvious.
But ask the Iowa State fans how diligently they dig to see if some poor kid played a game or two on a team in Europe that had one guy getting more than living expenses.

[tornado]

Here is an interesting take on the OJ Mayo/college athlete's getting paid-scandal...

ESPN's Steven A. Smith even seems to approve of the cash funneling to college athletes.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3405148

"I was talking shop with an East Coast runner. "We're not going anywhere," the guy told me. "Know why? Because there will never be an end to athletes who have friends who want to profit off their talents. And there will never be an end to athletes who will let us in because they know everyone around them is getting paid."

[tornado]

USC's loss of OJ Mayo won't have any impact, since they have a guy coming in that'll give them everything OJ gave them....

Does anyone recall this story?

http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/3728

Rapper "'Lil Romeo", also known as Percy Romeo Miller has verballed and signed with USC.
Never mind that he wasn't even listed with any of the recruiting services, and never mind that no other school in America takes the kid seriously, as he plays at Beverley Hills HS - hardly a bastion of basketball prowess and the kid at 5-10, averages 13.9 ppg/5.6 apg.....
Just about every high school in the nation has at least one player whose stats are in this ball park!
Then, USC will have to deal with the entourage, bodyguards, and wherever the kid might be getting his $$ from...
he is a 1-Star recruit per scout/Insider

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=8&c=1&nid=3094672

" On April 14, 2007, it was announced that Percy Romeo Miller, also known as Romeo
(and formerly Lil' Romeo), had been offered a basketball scholarship to USC.
The scholarship offer, to a 5-foot-10 point guard with a bad knee who had never played
a full season of high-school basketball, was roundly criticized by national commentators
as a thinly veiled attempt by USC to obtain the commitment of Miller's friend, prep star
and NBA prospect Demar DeRozan, while ignoring Miller's mediocre-at-best talent."

http://www.bleacherreport.com/articles/24039-Not-Just-OJ-Mayo-USC-Has-a-History-of-Controversy-180508

As recently as a few weeks ago, people watching Romeo play ball all agree his basketball skills are way overstated,
and he isn't anywhere hean 6-ft tall!!

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.6892/title.lil-romeos-basketball-skills-over-hyped

by the way, DeRozan is trying to get out of his LOI, and there is talk that USC may dump 'Lil Romeo also...

http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008/05/14/usc-may-never-see-its-next-one-and-done/

http://cohn.pressdemocrat.com/default.asp?item=2203636&cohn