Yes, O.J. Mayo is THAT Good

Post-practice interviews in the Galen Center yesterday took on a different vibe than usual.

It felt like the last days of high school for a senior with a big scholarship on the line and the fear of jinxing it.

None of the reporters outright badgered O.J. Mayo about his final homestand, but kept dancing around a question for which the answer was already known. Nobody winked when they spoke, but everybody did so with the tone of their voices.

One of the USC beat reporters, Dan Weber of the Riverside Press-Enterprise had just done some research and realized that, head-to-head, Mayo had clearly outperformed almost all the other heralded guards in his freshman class. Against Derrick Rose (Memphis), Jerryd Bayless (Arizona, 2 games), and James Harden (Arizona State, 2 games), Mayo had the edge in points (116-77), assists (20-12) and turnovers (12-23).

Mayo outscored Rose 16-9 with three assists and two turnovers to Rose's four assists and five turnovers. Against Bayless, Mayo had a 43-18 edge in two games, with 11 assists to five and three turnovers to nine for Bayless. Harden came closest, getting outscored 57-50, as Mayo had six assists to Harden's three and seven turnovers to Harden's nine.

USC split against both Arizona schools and lost to Memphis in an overtime thriller in Madison Square Garden.

Before the season started, Rivals.com, one of the top recruiting services, said that Eric Gordon (Indiana) was the best guard in this class, followed by Rose, Mayo, Harden and Bayless. Another top recruiting service, Scout.com, put Mayo at the top followed by Gordon, Rose and Bayless (Harden was 10th, still a five-star recruit).

Although Gordon hasn't faced any of his fellow diaper dandies, he's managed to score 21.3 points per game amid all sorts of coaching headaches at Indiana. He may not get to face any of the others until next year in the NBA, unless they cross paths in the NCAA tournament.