Posts tagged OJ Mayo at FanHouse

Not that "jumping ability" is a manner for judging the O.J. Mayo - Kevin Love trade. But it's early (far too early) and frankly, I'm feeling kneejerkish today. And they're going to be compared for the rest of their careers anyway, so we might as well start now. Unfortunately, the following dunk was actually against Hilton Armstrong, not Love. But it's still nasty.



The Grizzlies might not win the Western Conference. And they might not win a ton of games. But they are, with Rudy Gay, Mayo and Mike Conley, at the least going to be exciting to watch, no?

Via TrueHoop

This is why the "test the waters" process is mishandled. NC State forward J.J. Hickson declined an invitation to the NBA's pre-draft camp.

Coach Sidney Lowe said last week that Hickson would attend the camp, but would only get a physical. However, his name is not found under "Camp Players" or the separate list of "Skills, Strength & Agility, and Medical Testing." The latter is usually reserved for players who are considered guaranteed first-round picks.

Normally, players who feel they are assured of being a first round pick (basically the top 15-20 players) skip the camp and just have the physical. That means Hickson feels he's guaranteed to be a first rounder. He's basically the only one.

DraftExpress has him as the first pick in the 2nd round. NBADraft.net has him as the final pick of the first round. ESPN has him going 28th.

Fifteen players made the "physical only" list ... which include the likes of O.J. Mayo, Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley and Kevin Love. Yeah, Hickson may be in that same recruiting class, but he isn't in that class of talent right now.

Hickson has yet to sign with an agent, so there is the possibility of him returning to the Wolfpack.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association is very concerned about allegations that O.J. Mayo had been receiving cash and gifts from a street agent over the past four years. Mayo starred (along with Kansas State's Bill Walker) at Cincinnati's North College Hill High School for three seasons ... bringing home the 2005 and 2006 Division III state championship.

The OHSAA wants to know more about what happened:

(OHSAA assistant commissioner Bob) Goldring said Sunday that he believed NCH would not be penalized, based on an OHSAA bylaw that mandates any eligibility concerns must be brought forward within 42 days following the last day of the state championship in that sport. On Monday, Goldring backed off that statement a bit. He said the OHSAA may revisit whether NCH might have to forfeit any games or championships from the Mayo era.

"In digesting things for a day and talking to other staff members, it is more accurate to say that we cannot answer that (forfeits) question at this point," Goldring told The (Cincinnati) Enquirer via e-mail Monday. "We would have to know the exact details of the findings, have proof that they were indeed true and then determine if any of the bylaws would be applicable."

Just as always, a star player receives some perks under the table and leaves a trail of damage behind. Unlike a college program like USC, it's tough for a high school to monitor all these kinds of activities ... even if they have a guy like Mayo who did have some red flags along with him.

Lemme ask you a question: Were you honestly shocked to hear that O.J. Mayo has allegedly taken cash and gifts during his high school and college career? I wasn't.

And neither was ESPN.com's Pat Forde who is putting major blame on USC and coach Tim Floyd:

Especially with a player everyone in Hoopsworld strongly suspected was no amateur before he set foot in Los Angeles. You had to search hard to find a soul who didn't think O.J. Mayo had been prostituted for years as his prep legend grew, starting in seventh grade. (Put it this way: When early Mayo confidant Sonny Vaccaro gets muscled out of the scene, somebody's bringing some serious juice to the table.)

So you take the (Reggie) Bush allegations, add a side of Mayo and ask the question: Has there ever been a more textbook definition of "lack of institutional control"?

Forde even throws around the "death penalty" as an option (even he acknowledges it wouldn't happen).

What riles up many people is the fact that Tim Floyd is flat out denying that Mayo couldn't have done these things. The allegations have a guy named Rodney Guillory -- a guy who was linked to former USC player Jeff Trepagnier's troubles -- financing this deal, which means he is still rooted in the program.

What made other people skeptical was the fact that Mayo chose to play at USC in the first place. Why weren't the North Carolinas, UConns, UCLAs, Kansases, etc of the college hoops world going after him? None wanted any part of the red flags that were thrown up. No offense to USC for bringing him in, but how could they not keep an eye on a guy that was treated like a hot potato?

The charade is over and we've finally reached that day. O.J. Mayo is heading to the NBA Draft. Mayo has announced that he will leave USC after his freshman season and enter the draft.

"I am so thankful for the fans and alumni at USC and around the nation that have been so supportive of me and my teammates throughout the season," Mayo said in a statement. "I'd like to express my appreciation to my coaches and teammates for their support in one of the most important decisions I've ever made."

"This comes as no surprise," coach Tim Floyd said in the statement. "We are appreciative of everything O.J. did for all of us the year he was with us. We wish him well. I have no doubt that he will be a great professional."

Well, duh, Coach Floyd. We've been hearing about Mayo so long, you'd think he's 32 years old right now (especially if you've lived in the Cincinnati area ... as I now do). Mayo has always been a lock to enter the NBA once he was eligible, so none of this is surprising.

According to NBADraft.net, Mayo is a top five pick and compared to Stephon Marbury.

There will be a press conference tomorrow which NCAA and NBA will announce a change to the NBA's draft eligibility policy. NBA commish David Stern and NCAA president Myles Brand will conduct the news conference.

Brand hinted Thursday the NCAA and NBA had worked out a deal to create a 20-year-old age limit, which would keep the best players in college for a minimum of two years.

The NBA adopted a 19-year-old age limit in its collective bargaining agreement with the players' association in 2006, which prevented high school players from jumping directly to the NBA.

This would essentially eliminate those "one-and-done" guys like Greg Oden, Kevin Durant and Brandan Wright from last year.

I love the rule because I think it is in the best interest of both the NBA and NCAA. The NBA will get a more experienced and skilled player (for every Kevin Durant, there are dozens of Brandan Wright's not playing) and the NCAA gets to keep its stars a bit longer. Imagine if Texas still had Durant or Ohio State had Oden? Would UNC been exposed by Kansas like that if Wright had still been around?

Conference: Pac-10
Record: 21-11, 12-8 Pac-10
RPI: 29
How They Got In: At-Large Bid
Seed/Bracket: #6 in the East

Mascot: Trojan. In 1912, sportswriter Los Angeles Times sportswriter Owen Bird often compared USC's athletes to Trojan warriors for the great spirit and honor they showed in defeat. It bears mentioning that most opponents' fans now use the name to make jokes about contraceptives, which probably isn't what Bird had in mind.

Big Wins: at UCLA, Stanford, Oregon (home/away), Arizona State (home/away), Oklahoma.

Notable Loss: A shocking home loss to Mercer in the season opener. The Trojans were also swept by Washington State.

Player You Should Know: If you don't already know OJ Mayo, then you probably haven't read many articles about college basketball this season. He entered school as one of the most hyped players in recent memory, and, unfortunately, he disappointed a bit during the first half of the year. In the last few weeks, though, Mayo has curtailed his annoying tendency to settle for jumpers and and become the dynamic scorer everyone expected him to be.

Outlook: Despite the Pac-10 semifinal loss to UCLA, the Trojans have been playing very well lately. Their overall athleticism can cause problems for lots of teams and they're an underrated defensive team. Their youth occasionally gets the better of them, but expect USC to win a game and have an outside shot at their second trip to the Sweet 16 in a row.

After last week's two controversial calls that helped give UCLA a weekend sweep and the conference title, you'd think that this week's Pac-10 Tournament would feature better officiating -- or, perhaps more accurately, a lack of anything but the most obvious whistles in a particular situation. Of course, if you think that, then you don't know the Pac-10.

Arizona State's Jeff Pendergraph was whistled for an over-the-back call on a huge follow-dunk with 16.9 seconds left that would have tied the game at 57-57. USC's Davon Jefferson was right under the basket on the play and Pendergraph clearly went for the ball and barely touched him, but that didn't stop the whistle. Jefferson hit his free throws at the other end, and the Trojans eventually won 59-55. To get an idea of just how bad this call was, one need only listen to FSN announcers Barry Tompkins and Dan Belluomini in the video above. At first, they rightfully praise the play, then try to decide if the whistle was for goaltending, and then finally understand that it was a foul call.

One thing's for certain: the conspiracy theories won't hold here. ASU is squarely on the bubble and needed this game to put them in the NCAA field. USC has a bid locked up and is really only interested in seeding from here on out. This call was just a case of gross incompetency on the part of the officials. Frankly, it's even hard to say this was a shocking turn of events.

The real shame is that calls like this one make this game -- and, by extension, the league -- look bad. This was a great game, with All-Conference freshman guards OJ Mayo (23 points) and James Harden (16 points) facing off in a terrific battle of future NBA lottery picks. Unfortunately, the quality of play will go largely untouched, and we'll all focus on how arguably the best conference in the country has the worst officials around.

The Pac-10 announced its season awards today and, unsurprisingly, UCLA was the big winner. The Bruins picked up the hardware for Player of the Year (Kevin Love), Freshman of the Year (Love again), and Defensive Player of the Year (Russell Westbrook). The only trophy that failed to go to Westwood was Coach of the Year, which was won by Stanford's Trent Johnson. The Bruins also placed three people on the Pac-10's three All-Conference teams.

It's hard to argue with any of these choices. Love was pretty clearly the most consistent offensive player in the league this season, although his defense is not up to the level of likely runner-up Brook Lopez. Regardless, Love was a deserving winner of both his awards. Westbrook's win is a little easier to question, but he's certainly one of the two or three best wing defenders in the conference (although I prefer Washington State's Kyle Weaver), and Stanford center Robin Lopez's blocked shot totals probably weren't high enough to give him the trophy. As for Coach of the Year, that one's always emphasizes performance relative to expectations, so it's not surprising that the admittedly deserving Johnson beat out Ben Howland.

The Pac-10 recently changed their All-Conference team from one 10-person group to three five-man teams, and that was probably a good decision given the conference's strength this season. The first team included Love, Brook Lopez, Ryan Anderson, OJ Mayo, and James Harden. I'm a little surprised that Jerryd Bayless didn't beat out Harden, but it's possible that the coaches wanted to honor Arizona State for their surprisingly solid season. Other than that, though, the rest of the All-Conference teams played to form.

Anyone expecting Stanford to bounce back from Thursday's heartbreaking loss to UCLA and play with something to prove was horribly disappointed on Saturday morning. The Cardinal ran into a dynamic USC team and fell 77-64 at the Galen Center. The Trojans were quicker to the ball the entire game and simply looked like they wanted this one more.

USC got contributions from pretty much every player on their roster, but O.J. Mayo and Taj Gibson led the way in this one. Mayo finished with 25 points (9/19 FG), making this game another in a recent string of sterling performances. I criticized Mayo quite a bit earlier in the season, but no one can deny that he has been special lately. He seems to be looking for the drive more often than he did up until just a few weeks ago, and that area of his game has subsequently made it easier for him to get deep looks. Quite frankly, over the last few weeks Mayo's been the guy we all expected him to be when the season started in November.

Gibson scored 20 points (9/13 FG) and used his quickness advantage to negate the Lopez twins' height advantage inside. At the defensive end, he blocked five shots and helped limit Brook Lopez to one of his worst games of the season (4/13 FG for 11 points). As a team, the Trojans grabbed 18 offensive rebounds, a dominant performance on the glass given Stanford's position as one of the best rebounding teams in the country. The Cardinal looked incredibly slow to the ball and seemed to be suffering from an emotional letdown after the draining end of Thursday's UCLA game.

USC had likely already locked up an at-large bid before this game, so it's unlikely that this win will do anything for them other than bump their seed up a spot. Stanford, however, could be in some trouble. The Cardinal are seeking a spot in the Anaheim pod, but this weekend's two losses and a first-round loss in next week's Pac-10 Tournament could knock them out of a Top 4 protected seed. If that happens, Stanford's placement could come down to how the selection committee views that UCLA game. If they conclude that the Cardinal got jobbed, then it's possible that nothing could move them out of Anaheim.