Good Kid, Bad Situation

I've said it before and I'll say it again ... the case that O.J. Mayo got caught with his hand in the cookie jar appears to be strong.

Despite a very earnest and categorical denial Wednesday, there's a long way to go before Mayo can be cleared. To me, the biggest sticking point is that Andy Katz (ESPN) called Mayo on his cellphone, and the bill for that number was apparently paid for by a credit card under Rodney Guillory's name. That seems pretty incriminating, though I'd still love to see those documents released.

Regardless of how this plays out -- even if he took more than $30,000 in extra benefits -- I'd like to be the first one to say that O.J. Mayo is really a great kid.

Except I'm not. Not even close. Reporter after reporter, columnist after columnist, coach after coach, has gone on the record to say that O.J. Mayo is poised, respectful and seems to have great character.

Despite this apparent blemish, all the hype holds true.

If there's one thing that people should take away from today's article it's these two lines:

• Mayo had just completed his last school final when he paused to speak to a reporter.
• Following the interview, Mayo slipped into a new red Porsche Cayenne GTS with two friends and drove off, saying he was headed to Chicago for workouts in advance of next month's NBA draft.

A Porsche. A posse. Why would O.J. Mayo bother taking a freshman class final? A promise.

A couple of months ago, I heard Mayo reiterate his pledge to Coach Tim Floyd that he would finish the semester. He didn't have to. Heck, the year before three players just stopped going to class.

But that wasn't like Mayo. He finished up, even though technically nothing could make him -- except himself.

That says something about this young man.

It also speaks volumes about the situation that surrounded him. As a high school player, he was 12 months from his first shiny red Porsche. In the interim, USC sold No. 32 basketball jerseys in the bookstore for $75. To put that in perspective, the store sold a football jersey for $15 less -- and it actually came with sleeves.

Mayo was also paid an NCAA-approved monthly stipend of $450 (or six jerseys) and he was expected to keep his nose clean. Maybe that wasn't enough. Maybe the NBA should have let him in earlier or threatened to punish rookies who break these sorts of rules.

There's a great story that Mayo once declined a free cookie because it might be an NCAA violation. But if you give a mouse a cookie ...

Comments

[silverlakebruin]

You are confusing the issues, probably intentionally.

I don't believe anybody is saying that OJ Mayo is evil, or has harmed anyone. I don't believe anyone said that about Reggie Bush either.

The accusation is that USC iused and is using inelligible paid players, and encourages this by associating and allowing free access to players by agents and other hangers on. Furthermore, USC does not prioritize compliance and is not interested in making sure it is using only amateur players. It is not honarable as a competitor in NCAA athletics, and is instead breaking the rules to have an unfair advantage. Basically, USC is everything college sports is not supposed to be.

Nobody has accused Mayo of being a bad person, he is just being accused of being an inelligible basketball player, and the USC program is being accused of being unethical in its lax standards of compliance to NCAA rules, and willing to break the rules for its advantage.

Quit spinning and making this about whether OJ is "bad" or "good". That's not what this about.

[big bad bruin hater]

SLB

You say lax standards there is no way a Uni. or College can observe all players all the time. But then again I forgot that John Woody administered cavity checks every week at Sam Giberts house

[fornetti]

I do not believe this