USC in trouble

[Channing]

Not sure if this was just a repeat ... but I caught a couple mintues of OTL today, looking at OJ Mayo, and someone who "allegedly" provided him with cash while in high school, and in college.

i guess USC made their bed ... now it might by time to sleep in it.

[davekay1971]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3390695

I'm sure most of you have read the espn.com story linked above. If not, it's worth a read - big-time hoops recruiting can be a dirty, dirty business. This just reassures me that Coach K and his staff know what they're doing by recruiting the kids they do...and avoiding others.

[El_Diablo]

I'm shocked, shocked, to find that this is going on in here!

[davekay1971]

I'm shocked, shocked, to find that this is going on in here!

who'd-a-thunk-it?

[RelativeWays]

USC has to be feeling the heat from this and the Reggie Bush situation. Supposedly the NCAA rules committee loves to nail big schools so I won't be surprised if both the football and basketball teams suffer some sort of penalties.

[gotham devil]

USC has to be feeling the heat from this and the Reggie Bush situation. Supposedly the NCAA rules committee loves to nail big schools so I won't be surprised if both the football and basketball teams suffer some sort of penalties.

Please
"The NCAA is so mad at Kentucky, it's going to give Cleveland State two more years"-ever ethical Jerry Tarkanian


UCLA (Sam Gilbert), Ohio St. Football (Clarrett and the contents of his stolen car), Memphis basketball (break in/fur coats and jewels, Worldwide Wes)

http://njmg.typepad.com/zagsblog/200...ot-illega.html

[trinity92]

That kid is probably the best player in his class, and USC beat out AZ State and UNC for his services.

Stay tuned.

[gotham devil]

That kid is probably the best player in his class, and USC beat out AZ State and UNC for his services.

Stay tuned.

Derozan is tight with Master P's kid, Percy Miller.

Wall St. Journal did an excellent expose on that relationship and USC.

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/...zgwNTcxWj.html

[slower]

Derozan is tight with Master P's kid, Percy Miller.

Yeah, but can he dance like Danny Green?

[Devilsfan]

This is a football first school that by the way also plays basketball, so if their program goes farther in the tournament then we do it might make a lot of people wonder and speculate. This couldn't just be talented players and good coaching, or could it?

[roywhite]

This is a football first school that by the way also plays basketball, so if their program goes farther in the tournament then we do it might make a lot of people wonder and speculate. This couldn't just be talented players and good coaching, or could it?

Last year USC finished 21-12 with a first round loss in the NCAA tournament.

[davekay1971]

That kid is probably the best player in his class, and USC beat out AZ State and UNC for his services.

Stay tuned.

Think Gillroy will be in Ol' Roy's office when the Derozen calls changing his commitment to UNC?

[K24U]

There need to be tougher penalties for the person taking the money, in this case OJ Mayo. OJ Mayo will be off to the NBA without any penalties against him. The NBA should step in and agree to suspend anyone receiving payments while in college for a one year period without pay. That would put a stop to all this nonsense.

The problem with NCAA sanctions and penalties is they hurt players that had nothing to do with the infraction. The NCAA should make it hurt the people involved not the innocent kids that this will eventually end up hurting.

[ugadevil]

Not sure if this was just a repeat ... but I caught a couple mintues of OTL today, looking at OJ Mayo, and someone who "allegedly" provided him with cash while in high school, and in college.

i guess USC made their bed ... now it might by time to sleep in it.

I saw that story as well. I couldn't believe the comments from Mayo's own mother. She basically said she knows it's bad situation and she didn't trust the people O.J. was hanging out with, but she had to support him.

[CameronBornAndBred]

From what I read this was between Guillory, Duffy Associates, and Mayo. USC happened to be the unfortunate school that is now tied to Mayo, but did nothing wrong on their own.
"USC said in a statement that NCAA and Pac-10 officials have looked into Mayo's status "before and during his enrollment at USC, and did not identify any amateurism violations.""--source

I agree with the earlier post in that there should be a way to penalize the player more than the school. It sounds like Mayo had been taking cash for a while.

[Channing]

From what I read this was between Guillory, Duffy Associates, and Mayo. USC happened to be the unfortunate school that is now tied to Mayo, but did nothing wrong on their own.
"USC said in a statement that NCAA and Pac-10 officials have looked into Mayo's status "before and during his enrollment at USC, and did not identify any amateurism violations.""--source

I agree with the earlier post in that there should be a way to penalize the player more than the school. It sounds like Mayo had been taking cash for a while.

don't they have a little bit of a responsibility to look into things when a 43 year old former basketball tournament promoter is hanging around their star player, driving a 50,000 dollar car, and the star player lands up with flat screen tv's in his room and new clothes all the time?

[ugadevil]

don't they have a little bit of a responsibility to look into things when a 43 year old former basketball tournament promoter is hanging around their star player, driving a 50,000 dollar car, and the star player lands up with flat screen tv's in his room and new clothes all the time?

If they are being honest in saying they cooperated with the NCAA and PAC 10 officials, it's hard to believe no one saw what was going on. Whether it's USC, PAC 10, or NCAA investigators, how does no one notice the benefits he's receiving? In the Outside the Lines story, the informant says they never told O.J. they were violating NCAA rules because he would be scared away if he knew it was wrong. Are you kidding?! How does everyone in this story seem so clueless?

[roywhite]

If they are being honest in saying they cooperated with the NCAA and PAC 10 officials, it's hard to believe no one saw what was going on. Whether it's USC, PAC 10, or NCAA investigators, how does no one notice the benefits he's receiving? In the Outside the Lines story, the informant says they never told O.J. they were violating NCAA rules because he would be scared away if he knew it was wrong. Are you kidding?! How does everyone in this story seem so clueless?

See no evil? Hear no evil?

School officials may not have wanted to look too closely, for fear of what they might find.

[ugadevil]

School officials may not have wanted to look too closely, for fear of what they might find.

Understandable. Yet, how would that explain PAC 10 and NCAA investigators not being able to find anything? It seems like the NCAA has been able to find much more difficult material in other cases. This one just seems like a giveaway. People were asking questions about Mayo since his freshman year in high school.

[dukeimac]

There are ways to get around everything, i.e. tax laws. For the same reason tax laws are so complicated so are the NCAA regulations. Write a law and you can find someone who is looking for ways to get around it.

All OJ Mayo was was a money making machine to someone. He had people around him that only saw the money; family, friends and want-a-be's. Those that object to it get some cash and they don't object for too long.

I do believe the coaches know what is going on. It just comes down to the pressure of winning. And the way to win sometimes is by recruiting those guys that might have some baggage, i.e. Huggins at Cincinnati, Bliss at Baylor, etc. Look at Maryland and there latest recruiting issue. A win at all cost thing.

The coach needs to be disciplined, i.e. Coach K. Sometimes people are puzzled why Coach K gives up on a top recruit but I think it is because he knows things about the guy that he doesn't want to get involved with. It might be things like this or that they only will stay for a year, i.e. Love.

I think Coach K is the MOST reputable coach in the game today. But I think, not fully sure, that a few years back he might have almost run into a similar issue with Corey Maggette. There were people screaming for an investigation into him after he left Duke for the pros after his freshman year. I believe people were saying his AAU coach had some influence over him and did some money transactions with Corey. Reports were, from Correy I believe, that Coach K was very supportive of him going pro event though he didn't start for Duke. Things looked funny.

There are too many cases like Mayo's to effectively investigate them so they slip by until someone close the situation comes forward. And I bet one person, at least, is upset they made this guy mad. It probably came down to this guy not getting his fair share of the $200,000.