You may have heard about O.J. Mayo recently. He was the prep-phenom/hired gun that USC rented for the past season. He's been accused of accepting money and gifts from an agent during his short stint in "college". Because they will take this short column and turn it into a very long one, I will spare you my thoughts about the basketball system from youth to the NBA. I would like to share my thoughts on USC's response. Today, USC claimed that it did not have any knowledge of Mayo accepting any gifts. I'm sure they didn't actually see him take any gifts but, come on. They didn't do any research on the player who they were spending thousands of dollars on? Check out this article from SI written on July 10, 2006:
The O.J. Circus
In the article the author, Seth Davis, mentions that before his senior year in high school Mayo began to associate with Rodney Guillory, a known runner for an agent. Basically, an agent's runner provides gift for amateur athletes, as long as the athlete promises to sign with that agent upon turning professional. Interestingly enough, Guillory already "worked" with a USC basketball player who was suspended by the NCAA for taking improper gifts from an agent.
USC please, please spare us the "We didn't know..." game. We all knew it was happening. We know it happens at most of the big schools. Please, just admit that you were in the wrong and should have taken extreme precautions when dealing with Mayo. Of course, you probably don't care too much. Mayo lined the schools pockets with some bonus money. All you need to do is deny any knowledge in a few articles and you can move on to your next hired gun.
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