USC Basketball: Ignorance Should Not Be Bliss in O.J. Mayo Case

When I first heard USC’s response that it didn’t know anything about allegations that former basketball star O.J. Mayo had received gifts from a local sports agency and that there was no wrongdoing in its recruiting of Mayo, my initial response was, “who do they think they’re kidding?” 

First off, here is a university that has produced some of the world's best and brightest in academics and sports, and is located in the media capital of the world. To say it didn’t know anything about one of its most prized recruits in years receiving tons of money and gifts from a shady individual working for a sports agency is just ludicrous!

ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” on May 11 had Louis Johnson, a former sportswriter for the Long Beach Press-Telegram, produced a paper trail of receipts and other documents linking Mayo to Rodney Guillory, a “runner” for BDA Sports Management.

Johnson told ESPN that Mayo has received as much as $30,000 in cash and gifts even before he unrolled at USC while playing high school basketball in Ohio and West Virginia.

During his brief stay with the Trojans, where he was named first team All-Pac-10, the gifts kept on coming for Mayo. Some included clothes, airline tickets and meals for family and friends, and a flat screen television in his dorm room (who misses that?).

Reports say that USC allegedly knew of Guillory’s fine work when he provided airfare for another Trojan recruit, Jeff Trepagnier, back in 2000 for another sports agency.

In the May 13, 2008 edition of the Los Angeles Times, former Compton High and Fresno State star player Tito Maddox told the Times that he and his family received $30,000, a car, an SUV and airline tickets arranged by Guillory from a Las Vegas-based agency.

The Fresno State basketball program was put on a self-imposed two-year probation and lost two scholarships in 2002 after Maddox confessed to the Fresno Bee that he received the illegal gifts, according to the Times.

But USC knew nothing about this in its pursuit of Mayo and that Guillory was on the up and up?  

USC went out of its way to land the highly recruited Mayo and let Guillory do all the work of bringing him in, believing Mayo’s claim that he would lead them to the promised land of an NCAA title. Guillory practically handed USC Mayo on a silver platter.

He was well known around the USC basketball department and was a regular at pickup games, practices, regular season games and even in Coach Tim Floyd’s office!

But all Mayo did was lead the Trojans to an early exit in this year’s NCAA tournament. As expected, Mayo announced that he was making himself eligible for the NBA Draft right after the tournament.

Now the Trojans have to be asking themselves was it all worth it. The NCAA and the Pac-10 have opened investigations. If found guilty, USC could be in a world of trouble. All it got was a first-round loss, a star player that’s one and done, and possible violations of NCAA rules that could decimate the basketball program and leave a black eye on one of the nation’s most hallowed college athletic programs.

USC is claiming ignorance with its handling of Mayo in the same way it is dealing with similar allegations that former Heisman Trophy winner and current New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush received cash and gifts while at USC.

At least Bush led the Trojans to a couple of National Championships, which could be stripped if he is found guilty.    

Floyd and USC turned a blind eye in exchange for a few more wins and a chance at catching up to crosstown rival UCLA. But let’s be honest here. UCLA with its 11 national titles, legendary coach and legendary players own USC the way the Trojans own the Bruins in football. These are programs that are second to none.

There’s no way USC will ever be able to catch up to the Bruins in basketball and neither should it try. USC is a football school, plain and simple.

If USC is found guilty, changes in the athletic department need to be made immediately to restore dignity to this proud institution. Some of those changes may involve firing Floyd and football coach Pete Carroll and their staffs, and maybe even Athletic Director Mike Garrett. All are great guys as well as coaches and have brought so much to USC and the community. It would a sad day in Los Angeles and in all of college sports to see this worst-case scenario come to fruition.

But everyone will bounce back. Floyd will land another college job and already has experience as a head coach in the NBA. The NFL and Carroll have been flirting with each other for years, and it’s only a matter of time and the right offer to make him jump ship.

Mayo will also leave USC suffering no repercussions whatsoever. He is expected to be drafted as high as third and no lower than eighth next month, according to some local college basketball experts. Mayo will earn millions in NBA salary and endorsements and will not suffer any of the consequences that the Trojans, its players and future recruits may suffer.

Kevin Hunter is a freelance writer who lives in Long Beach, Calif.