Mayo confidant says he gave USC star gifts

[Southpaw]

The NCAA's version of rent a player. This one year and out rule is turning out to be the joke it was not intended to be.

Ex-Mayo confidant says he gave USC star gifts including TV, cash

ESPN.com

Updated: May 11, 2008, 9:17 AM ET


Former USC basketball player O.J. Mayo, a projected lottery pick in this year's NBA draft, received thousands of dollars in cash, clothes and other benefits in apparent violation of NCAA rules while he was still in high school and during his one year in college, a former Mayo associate told ESPN's "Outside the Lines."

Louis Johnson, who was a part of Mayo's inner circle until recently, said Mayo accepted around $30,000 in cash and gifts during the past four years from Rodney Guillory, a 43-year-old Los Angeles event promoter. In addition to cash, the gifts included a flat-screen television for Mayo's dorm room, cell phone service, a hotel room, clothes, meals and airline tickets for Mayo's friends and a relative, according to Johnson, others with knowledge of the gifts and store receipts.

When Mayo was in high school in Ohio and West Virginia, Guillory was receiving monthly payments from the Northern California sports agency Bill Duffy Associates. Johnson said BDA provided Guillory with around $200,000 before Mayo arrived at USC, and that Guillory used most of the money to support his own lifestyle but also gave a portion of it to Mayo.

In exchange for the payments and gifts, Mayo entered into a verbal agreement to allow BDA represent him when he turned pro, Johnson told "Outside the Lines."

Providing athletes with money or other benefits is a violation, according to NCAA rules. In California, it's a misdemeanor for sports agents and their representatives to provide cash or gifts to student-athletes.

Mayo played one season at USC before declaring for the NBA draft in April. He named BDA's Calvin Andrews his agent.

Johnson also said that Duffy's company helped Guillory purchase a $50,000 Infiniti SUV from a Northern California car dealership co-owned by former USC and San Francisco 49ers defensive back Ronnie Lott and his 49ers teammate, Keena Turner.

After Duffy's company quit funding Guillory last year, Johnson says Guillory gave Mayo the flat-screen television, a hotel room and meals -- and paid for it with a credit card that belongs to a nonprofit organization called "The National Organization of Sickle Cell Prevention and Awareness Foundation." The organization has never been registered as a charitable trust with the California Attorney General's Office. Mary E. Brown, president and CEO of the Sickle Cell Disease Foundation of California, said she had never heard of the foundation for which Guillory charged purchases through.

Johnson provided "Outside the Lines" with receipts and invoices for many of the purchases, including the cell phone service.

Johnson said he believes USC officials were unaware that Guillory was providing cash and other benefits to Mayo. He did say that members of the USC coaching staff had regular contact with Guillory.

Guillory was also involved with former USC basketball player Jeff Trepagnier, who was suspended in 2000 for taking illegal benefits (the NCAA ruled that Guillory had purchased airfare for Trepagnier and Fresno State's Tito Maddox).

Mayo, officials at Bill Duffy Associates and officials at USC all declined to be interviewed by "Outside the Lines."

In a statement, Mayo said: "I am focusing on the process of making my dream come true, which is to play professional basketball. I will not allow these allegations to become a distraction to me and my family. I have been through investigations by the NCAA, the Pac Ten and USC before I attended school and during the time I have been here. I have not engaged in any wrongdoing. If these claims were true I would suspect they would have been discovered by one of these organizations."

Of Guillory, Mayo said in his statement: "Rodney has been a positive influence on me as well as a strong African-American male presence in my life. Recently, my mother had the opportunity to spend time with Rodney as well, and has shared her appreciation for the way he has always treated me like I was family when I was so far away from home. I have nothing but respect for Rodney."

Duffy and Andrews said in a statement: "In the competitive environment of our business, these types of unsubstantiated assertions occur every year, particularly at this time. Our mission will continue to focus on the business of our current and prospective clients and let the record of our hard work, adherence to rules and regulations, and client satisfaction, speak for itself."

USC issued a statement, saying: "The NCAA and the Pac-10 reviewed O.J. Mayo's amateur status before and during his enrollment at USC, and did not identify any amateurism violations. Mayo and USC fully cooperated in these investigations. The University investigated and reported a violation involving Mayo's receipt of tickets to a Denver Nuggets game from his friend Carmelo Anthony. Mayo's eligibility was reinstated after he made a charitable contribution in the amount of the value of the tickets."

Johnson told ESPN he didn't get paid, but hoped to profit once Mayo made it to the NBA. He said he fell out of favor with Mayo because Guillory created a strain in the relationship by misrepresenting things Johnson allegedly said about Mayo and, eventually, sabotaging their relationship.

 

[bko32]

The one-year rule has nothing to do with this. Stuff like this has happened for as long as I can remember. Although, I am not a fan of Mayo, I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt for now. Mayo's amateur status was examined extensively before he could enter USC. Guillory is also well-known to have helped other players besides Trepagnier, so I'm sure the NCAA and Pac-10 have monitored him closely. At this point, it sounds like this dude is upset that he didn't cash in on Mayo and he's looking for a little retribution. Until more hard facts come out, I'm buying it.

 

[Southpaw]

The one-year rule has nothing to do with this. Stuff like this has happened for as long as I can remember. Although, I am not a fan of Mayo, I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt for now. Mayo's amateur status was examined extensively before he could enter USC. Guillory is also well-known to have helped other players besides Trepagnier, so I'm sure the NCAA and Pac-10 have monitored him closely. At this point, it sounds like this dude is upset that he didn't cash in on Mayo and he's looking for a little retribution. Until more hard facts come out, I'm buying it.

Sure it could. If player "x" knows he is only going to play for one year ( and not even attend class as some have not ) , there is the distinct possibility that player will just ride , slide and take for that year and the senior yr. of high school. A player with Mayo's talent and reputation gets to pick the school and terms of his employment. There is no fear of loss of eligibility and if the University keeps the blinders on and reaps the tournament success, this one year rule has much to do with that atmosphere. That makes the one year opt out rule a joke. NCAA BB is a sham when it comes to rules and reg's.

 

[Russ Smith]

The problem here is it's not just Guillory and the NCAA knows it. ESPN says they have receiptes, they have store clerks who will state Guillory paid for over $2300 in clothes for Mayo etc. And the thing is as I've been stating for years here, Dwaine Barnes was making money off mayo when he was in 8th grade at AAU events. Guillory essentially outbid Barnes and replaced him as Mayo's "advisor."

This is a huge story it was going to come out eventually although in this case it does appear Johnson went public because he's mad not because he grew a conscience.

Wait for the book by Tom Groeschen if he ever writes it, you'll read all about Mayo's rent being paid while he attended North College Hill (he was living on his own) and all sorts of other stuff.

That USC actually expects people to buy they didn't know something was fishiy given their past history with Guillory is comical. They had reporters asking them point blank aren't you concerned about Guillory and Floyd said no.

Be careful what you ask for it might get your entire season forfeited.

 

[Southpaw]

A bit more background and opinion.

USC, Tim Floyd have no excuse for turning a blind eye
Forde

By Pat Forde
ESPN.com
Updated: May 11, 2008

In a just world, USC basketball would have something in common with SMU football in the near future.

The death penalty.

It's not going to happen, because NCAA bylaws don't work that way. And besides, they're not likely to ever again disband a program for a year after the smoking crater it left at SMU.

But USC deserves it. The school has so far escaped facing NCAA prosecution for compelling allegations that star tailback Reggie Bush and his family were lavishly compensated by an aspiring agent while playing for the Trojans. Now comes a devastating, thoroughly documented "Outside The Lines" report that goes into stunning detail about the money and gifts star guard O.J. Mayo allegedly received before and during his one season at USC.

All directly beneath USC's chronically blind eyes.

You can plead ignorance once -- and even that was almost impossible to believe, in the case of Bush. Plead it twice? Um, no. USC should be crushed by the NCAA, the Pacific-10 and its own administration.

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

If all the allegations stand up, USC athletic director Mike Garrett and the Inspector Clouseaus who comprise his compliance staff must lose their jobs over these serial embarrassments, or the school has no credibility whatsoever. When USC's two highest-profile sports both have star players allegedly on the brazen take from agents, somebody needs to answer for it. A lot of somebodies.

Or USC can take its ignorance and explain it to the NCAA Committee on Infractions, which shouldn't be in much of a mood to listen if the same OTL facts are presented to NCAA investigators as compellingly as they were on national TV and on this Web site Sunday.

How could coach Tim Floyd not have known about the cash and flat-screen TV that OTL reported O.J. Mayo received?

According to the OTL investigation, Mayo received thousands of dollars' worth of clothes. A flat-screen TV for his dorm. Hotel rooms for him and his friends. And receipts for all of them, provided to ESPN by insider-turned-whistle-blower Louis Johnson (whose stories were remarkably consistent and verifiable, according to those who worked on the piece).

But it gets better: The swag allegedly was financed by a man named Rodney Guillory, who previously had gotten former USC guard Jeff Trepagnier in trouble for accepting agent kickbacks. Not only did that fail to get Guillory banned from campus, he also wound up a fixture within the program. Of course, who wouldn't want a 43-year-old scammer hanging around a college freshman?

According to transcripts from OTL's interviews with Johnson, Guillory was sitting in the USC basketball offices when Mayo's signed letter-of-intent rolled off the fax machine. Johnson also said coach Tim Floyd talked frequently with Guillory about Mayo whenever "issues" arose.

In the wake of this, it's hilarious to listen to Floyd's interview on "Pardon The Interruption" before Mayo started his brief career at USC. In a previous episode, Michael Wilbon had arched an eyebrow about taking someone with Mayo's red flags into the program. Floyd's response made Mayo sound like a tragically misunderstood Eagle Scout.

According to Floyd, Mayo was raised by a single mother who didn't have the money to pay a big cell phone bill -- which ostensibly is why Guillory discouraged Floyd from calling him during his recruitment. Floyd also said the kid "doesn't have anything" materially.

Despite that, the USC coach apparently never got around to wondering how the poor child from Huntington, W.Va., could afford the expensive clothes on his back or the expensive shoes on his feet. How about the flat-screen TV in his dorm? That never set off an alarm? If the answer is that USC coaches or compliance workers never set foot in Mayo's dorm room … why the hell not?

When you recruit someone radioactive, you better have everything checked down to the smallest detail. Or else your program turns into Three Mile Island.

Johnson told ESPN that he believes USC did not know about any of the kickbacks Mayo allegedly received. Why?


"I think after the Reggie Bush fiasco that they would have definitely taken steps to prevent this type of thing from happening again," Johnson said.

Except they apparently didn't. Which is astonishing. And damning.

(However, it would not qualify as "repeat violator" status with the NCAA. The school has not been penalized -- or even charged -- in the Bush affair, and until that happens, USC would not fall under the repeat violator umbrella. That's why it couldn't get the death penalty. But a postseason ban would seem to be both plausible and justifiable.)

You have to assume USC simply didn't want to know. Didn't want to know the extent to which runners already had set their hooks into their highest-profile basketball recruit ever. The Trojans knew they were in this deal for one year before Mayo turned pro, and they probably just averted their gaze, hoping nothing blew up and the victories would pile up.

It's a scenario playing out right now on many other campuses nationwide, guaranteed. Agents and their runners are identifying who can play as early as college scouts are, and they're commencing the jockeying for position. And we all know what wins most of those turf wars: money and favors. Most topflight young basketball players have at least been offered plenty before college, even if they haven't accepted it.

It's a problem the NCAA desperately needs to get a grip on if college basketball is going to maintain even a hint of a legitimate relationship to higher education. The sport's repeatedly pilloried reputation took another big hit with this revelation, but perhaps it will spur other Louis Johnsons to tell the truth about what's going on in college hoops and youth basketball.

And as for USC?

Fight on.

And deny on.

Pat Forde is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at [email protected].

 

[Southpaw]

and...

OTL probe: Mayo received money, perks from agent reps

By Kelly Naqi
ESPN
(Archive)

Updated: May 11, 2008, 3:34 PM ET


In August 2007, a few days before the fall semester began at the University of Southern California, freshman basketball guard O.J. Mayo decided he needed some new clothes for school. His friends, Louis Johnson and Rodney Guillory, picked him up in Guillory's black Infiniti SUV and soon they were at a mall in Carson, Calif., picking out thousands of dollars of clothing.

In the college basketball world, Guillory and Johnson are what's known as "runners" -- middlemen who develop relationships with high-profile athletes with the goal of delivering them to a sports agent when the players turn pro. Johnson is a former Long Beach sportswriter who had met Mayo more than a year earlier and was just getting started in the world of runners. Guillory was an L.A. event promoter who also played a role in the suspension of a USC basketball player in 2000.

As Mayo held up different clothing combinations for Guillory's approval, Johnson said Mayo had a plan. Over the next year in a city that is home to the stars, he was going to create the Mayo Brand, and then take his total package to the National Basketball Association. Once he turned pro, Mayo would sign with an agent at Bill Duffy Associates Sports Management (BDA), which represents a number of NBA stars, including Steve Nash, Yao Ming and Carmelo Anthony; and the agent would polish that image.

Forde: USC Should Have Known

On the heels of the Reggie Bush debacle, USC should be crushed by the NCAA, the Pac-10 and its own administration for the latest revelations about O.J. Mayo, writes Pat Forde. Column
• Kelly Naqi chat, Monday, noon ET

Most NBA experts predict Mayo will be a lottery pick, expected to be among the first 14 selections in the June 26 draft. To go with his extraordinary athletic ability, he has the ingredients that make him a sports marketer's dream: intelligence and charisma.

But on this day in late August, Mayo was missing something: clothes for college.

"He wanted to have the [clothes] that would suitably fit his image," Johnson recalled. "He wanted the Kanye West-preppy look, and a combination that ranged from the Jay-Z smooth look to the stuff that Lil Wayne might wear. He got some shirts, pants, a couple of jackets, shoes. Everything had to correspond with the shoes."

Johnson said Mayo shopped for about an hour that day. When it came time to pay for the purchases, Guillory pulled out an American Express card and charged the bill of $2,300 -- which, the sales clerk said later, included a discount of about 15 percent because of "who [Mayo] was." Johnson provided a copy of the receipt from the purchase to ESPN's "Outside the Lines," which verified the shopping spree by interviewing the clerk who assisted Mayo with his purchases. The clerk remembered Mayo and Guillory making multiple trips to the store, Men's Land in Carson, Calif., during the school year. A clerk at another Men's Land location in Culver City also remembered helping Mayo shop with Guillory, and said he recalled Guillory paying the bill for Mayo's merchandise.

[+] Enlarge
O.J. Mayo

AP Photo/Don Ryan

One year at USC apparently was enough for NBA scouts. O.J. Mayo will likely be a lottery pick in the June draft.
Clothing isn't the only thing Guillory, now 43, bought for Mayo during the course of their friendship, according to Johnson. Guillory also paid for Mayo's flat-screen television, meals and airline tickets for friends and a family member.

And each time Mayo allowed Guillory and Johnson to provide him with money or other benefits, an NCAA violation may have been committed, according to NCAA rules.

"Outside the Lines" began investigating Mayo's relationship with Guillory in January. At the time, Johnson was still an integral part of Mayo's inner circle, loyal to the athlete and sworn to a code of secrecy within the group. The most prominent member of that group was Guillory.

Johnson said Mayo told him he trusted him like a family member. Johnson said he didn't have a job during this time, but Mayo found ways to reward him. Around Christmas in December, Johnson said Mayo surprised him with a gift of $1,000 in cash for what Mayo termed as "being his guy and being loyal to him." Johnson admitted that he hoped to profit more once the player made it to the NBA.

But Johnson said as he grew closer to Mayo, Guillory tried to put distance between Johnson and the star player. According to Johnson, Guillory's power in the group derived from having the closest and most-trusted relationship with Mayo. In fact, Guillory began this process by slowly wresting Mayo away from his longtime AAU coach, Dwaine Barnes -- a man Mayo called his "grandfather," Johnson and others close to Mayo said.

Barnes and Mayo officially cut ties about two years ago. When reached by telephone, Barnes declined to comment.

"There's no doubt about it that Rodney has more influence over O.J. than anyone else on this planet," Johnson said. "And it's like the most unusual dynamic I've ever seen in a mentor-younger-person-type relationship."

By March, as conference tournaments were heating up in college basketball, Johnson said he stopped hanging around the group. He accused Guillory of creating a strain in his relationship with Mayo by misrepresenting things Johnson said about Mayo, eventually sabotaging their relationship.

[+] Enlarge
O.J. Mayo

Atiba Jefferson, SLAM Magazine

At one point, the inner circle included, from left: Carlos Dew, Todd Mayo (O.J.'s brother), O.J. Mayo, Rodney Guillory and Louis Johnson.

It was around this time when Johnson began to speak with "Outside the Lines." According to Johnson, Guillory was the connection between Mayo and BDA Sports. Johnson said BDA provided Guillory with money to help him maintain his relationship with Mayo, and to give Mayo some spending money. In exchange, Mayo would be delivered to BDA Sports when he turned pro.

Among the allegations made by Johnson:

• Over the course of roughly three years prior to the start of Mayo's freshman season at USC, BDA Sports provided Guillory with about $200,000, some of it through an account set up at Citibank. Johnson said Guillory told him details about how the account was set up through an intermediary and how it worked: Each month, Guillory told a BDA official what the anticipated "expenses" would be, and that amount would be put into the account to take care of Guillory and Mayo's needs. Guillory, Johnson said, had a card to make withdrawals from the account. Johnson said he was sometimes with Guillory when he made those withdrawals, and Johnson provided "Outside the Lines" with a receipt from one $200 withdrawal that he said occurred in his presence.

• BDA helped Guillory purchase an Infiniti QX56 that Guillory drives. California registration records show Guillory's vehicle came from a dealership co-owned by former USC and NFL player Ronnie Lott, a longtime friend of Duffy, BDA Sports' chairman and CEO. According to Consumer Guide Automotive, the car was valued at around $50,000 when it was first purchased in 2005.

• Guillory has been giving money to Mayo for years, according to Johnson, who provided Western Union receipts that illustrate how Johnson and Guillory wired hundreds of dollars to friends of Mayo while he was in high school to avoid a paper trail leading to Mayo.

• Hotel receipts and airline itineraries show multiple trips made by Johnson and Guillory. The destinations correspond with where Mayo played in high school and at tournaments around the country.

• Guillory paid for Mayo's cell phone service, which T-Mobile billed to a nonprofit foundation run by Guillory that, according to California state records, is designed to serve "the educational, health, recreational and social needs of youths and elderly citizens residing in inner-city communities." Johnson provided "Outside the Lines" with the service agreement for four separate lines on the account, set up on March 13, 2007. Johnson said the phone lines were for Guillory, Mayo, a Mayo relative and Johnson. T-Mobile sent a bill to Guillory's foundation for $558.56 for the September charges for the four lines. Of that amount, $171.17 was for Mayo's phone service and another $192.33 was for the phone service of Mayo's relative, according to the invoice and Johnson.

• In addition to several shopping sprees at the two Men's Land stores in the Los Angeles area, Johnson said Guillory provided Mayo with a flat-screen television, a hotel room and meals -- items all paid for with a credit card that belongs to another nonprofit organization, The National Organization of Sickle Cell Prevention and Awareness Foundation. The organization has never registered as a charitable trust with the California Attorney General's Office and is unknown in the Los Angeles sickle-cell charitable community.

• Guillory purchased airline tickets for a member of Mayo's family and another Mayo friend to visit Mayo at USC, said Johnson, who provided "Outside the Lines" with a plane itinerary and a receipt for those trips.

While Guillory has been by Mayo's side off the court and often in the stands at USC games, Johnson said he believes USC officials were unaware that Guillory was providing cash and other benefits to the player, although he added that Guillory had regular contact with USC basketball coach Tim Floyd. Johnson recounted a story that he says Guillory told him: The day Mayo's letter of intent arrived at USC, Guillory was sitting in the USC basketball office with members of the coaching staff office as the fax arrived.

It is a misdemeanor in California for sports agents or their representatives to provide cash or gifts to student-athletes. Johnson said Mayo always knew he was ticketed to sign with BDA Sports. At his April 17 news conference to announce that he was making himself available for the NBA draft in June, Mayo named BDA senior vice president Calvin Andrews as his agent. That was a mere formality, Johnson said.

"O.J. knew that Rodney was getting money from BDA not only to take care of Rodney but also to take care of O.J.," Johnson said. "He would say that Calvin was his guy. … Calvin Andrews was going to represent O.J. Mayo through the BDA brand, absolutely."

Mayo, shown here at an April news conference, knew who his agent would be long before he declared for the pros, Louis Johnson says.
"Outside The Lines" asked for reaction to these allegations from Mayo, from BDA and from USC. Guillory and BDA Sports denied ESPN's repeated requests for an interview. Through statements, Mayo and BDA management denied any wrongdoing. USC, also through a statement, denied any knowledge of NCAA violations by Mayo.

Mayo's statement read, in part: "I am focusing on the process of making my dream come true, which is to play professional basketball. I will not allow these allegations to become a distraction to me and my family. I have been through investigations by the NCAA, the Pac Ten [sic] and USC before I attended school and during the time I have been here. I have not engaged in any wrongdoing. If these claims were true I would suspect they would have been discovered by one of these organizations."

The NCAA and USC have had problems with Guillory in the past. In 2000, Trojans guard Jeff Trepagnier was one of two college players suspended by the NCAA, in part because of benefits Guillory supplied when he was working as a runner for a Las Vegas sports agency. Former Fresno State guard Tito Maddox -- the other player suspended -- told "Outside the Lines" that Guillory provided him with plane tickets, money and other benefits, and that Guillory "finds kids and sends them to agents he's dealing with."

Mayo, in his statement, said his experience with Guillory has been above board.

"Rodney has been a positive influence on me as well as a strong African-American male presence in my life," said Mayo's statement, which was issued through BDA Sports. "Recently, my mother had the opportunity to spend time with Rodney as well, and has shared her appreciation for the way he has always treated me like I was family when I was so far away from home. I have nothing but respect for Rodney."

Johnson, 36, said he got to know Guillory about 10 years ago. At the time, Johnson was working for the Long Beach Press-Telegram, writing a story about Dominguez High School center Tyson Chandler. Guillory had fallen into bankruptcy in the early 1990s but was trying to establish himself on the Southern California high school basketball scene.

During a photo shoot for the newspaper, Johnson said, he allowed Chandler to wear a T-shirt that promoted the apparel company owned by one of Guillory's friends, and Guillory appreciated the gesture. Johnson and Guillory remained acquaintances as Guillory began organizing high school basketball tournaments. Johnson sometimes wrote about Guillory's tournaments for the newspaper as their paths continued to cross.

Johnson said he was covering the 2003 Adidas ABCD basketball camp when Mayo, then 15, and Guillory, then 38, met for the first time. Mayo and Guillory quickly forged a bond, speaking frequently on the telephone while Mayo was winning two state championships more than 2,000 miles away at North College Hill High School in Cincinnati and then another state title in his senior year at Huntington High School in West Virginia.

In an interview with ESPN's "E:60" in November 2007, Mayo gave this account of his early relationship with Guillory: "At that time, everyone was telling me I was the best thing since sliced bread. So when [Guillory] started critiquing my game and trying to make me a better player, I just felt a good vibe about him."

The week before Christmas in 2005, Guillory began to leverage that relationship. He co-sponsored a tournament in Southern California with Reebok that featured Mayo's North College Hill team. Guillory paid the school $16,000, plus all travel expenses, for the chance to showcase Mayo for two games in California, according to the contract between Guillory and the school, which "Outside the Lines" obtained through a public records request.

Johnson said USC and coach Tim Floyd weren't aware of the payments to Mayo, but knew their star freshman was associated with Guillory.
By the following summer, Johnson had fallen on hard times. He was unemployed and about to plead guilty to charges of selling cocaine, for which he received a one-year suspended sentence and received three years of probation. Johnson said during that time he reconnected with Guillory, and soon they were driving to two events Mayo participated in: the Reebok Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas and the Michael Jordan Flight School Camp in Santa Barbara.

Johnson added that Guillory and Mayo were supportive of him while his troubles with the law were adjudicated. During that time, he said, their friendship was truly validated at a dinner at the Calabasas home of Sonny Vaccaro, the former shoe company executive. There, seated at the table along with Guillory, Mayo told Vaccaro, "Lou is family." Vaccaro didn't respond to an interview request .

"That told me I had just taken it to a new level of intimacy," Johnson said. "I was literally at the lowest point I've ever been in before, and that situation, that 'belonging' at that time for me was the boost I needed to keep me going."

As their friendship blossomed, Mayo's senior year of high school began. Johnson said he and Guillory made at least four cross-country trips to be with Mayo. In the effort to remain close to the player, they stayed for days at a time in hotel rooms or crashed with Mayo's girlfriend's mother in Cincinnati, from where they could make the two-plus-hour drive to Huntington.

"He needed to maintain his relationship with the kid," Johnson said of Guillory. "It was too big of a risk for him not to be close to O.J. when things really particularly heat up. [Mayo] is a senior, he was a McDonald's All-American, he is a superstar. … If anything, that was the time to get close and try to strengthen the relationship."

Johnson said Guillory was using some of the money from BDA to take care of their expenses. Johnson quickly took to his new role in Mayo's inner circle, which he said included everything from helping Mayo with homework to "giving Rodney help or advice on different situations that may pop up." When he and Guillory weren't able to be in the same town as Mayo, he said, they kept in contact with Mayo by phone.

Johnson said Guillory detailed BDA's system for providing money to Guillory in exchange for delivering Mayo as a BDA client down the road. Johnson said Guillory called Andrews when he needed money.

"[Guillory] had a credit card that was set up through his Citibank Smith Barney account, and each month there would be X amount of dollars that would be dispensed to this account," Johnson said.

Johnson said Guillory once tallied the cash and property that BDA had provided him, which totaled between $200,000 and $250,000. About $30,000 of that made its way to Mayo and others close to him, he said. That total includes the Infiniti SUV Guillory received as part of his arrangement with BDA, according to Johnson. California registration records show the Infiniti was purchased from Tracy Toyota in Tracy, Calif., near the Bay Area. The dealership is co-owned by former San Francisco 49ers Lott and Keena Turner.

Tracy Toyota doesn't carry the Infiniti brand. Yet California registration records show that Tracy Toyota bought and registered Guillory's vehicle on June 17, 2005. On July 16, 2005, the dealership transferred the title of ownership of the brand-new Infiniti to Guillory. Tracy Toyota is located 336 miles from where Guillory lives in Inglewood. It isn't clear how much is owed on the vehicle, but Toyota Motor Credit Corp. in Georgia has a lien on the vehicle, according to California DMV records.

Lott told "Outside the Lines" that he has only met Mayo once and he didn't know Guillory had obtained a vehicle from his dealership. Turner said he's "known Bill [Duffy] for a number of years," and that the dealership has taken a number of referrals from BDA Sports in the past. But he doesn't remember helping to broker the deal for Guillory's vehicle.

On Friday, Duffy and Andrews provided this statement to ESPN in response to specific questions regarding the agency's relationship with Guillory and the benefits Johnson alleges were provided to Guillory and Mayo through BDA:

"Developing a rapport with Rodney Guillory was a prerequisite for the multiple agencies attempting to recruit O.J. Mayo. There were absolutely no illegalities in our recruitment of O.J. Mayo nor were there any agreements or understandings towards his selection of BDA. O.J. Mayo's decision to choose BDA as his representation firm had absolutely no bearing on anything other than O.J. recognizing our achievements and firmly believing that BDA will provide the guidance for him to reach his goals and attain great success."

Johnson said BDA remained in close contact with Mayo while he was at USC but the agency stopped providing money to Guillory on a monthly basis last summer. "The money ran out with BDA right around the time O.J.'s senior year [in high school] ended," he said.

To fill the void, Johnson said Guillory arranged to get an American Express card registered to The National Organization of Sickle Cell Prevention and Awareness Foundation.

Guillory and Johnson were associating with Mayo even before he led Huntington High School to the West Virginia state championship as a senior.
California Secretary of State records indicate that the nonprofit organization incorporated in 1999. But according to the California Attorney General's office, the organization has never registered as a charitable trust with its office, despite two letters requesting that it do so. And the organization's work is not known to other sickle cell groups in the area, said Mary E. Brown, president and CEO of the Sickle Cell Disease Foundation of California.

"We are the hub for the sickle-cell community, and we've never heard of them," Brown said.

Guillory, armed with a new line of credit worth thousands of dollars from the American Express card, began to spend on himself and Mayo before the fall semester began at USC, Johnson said. Receipts Johnson provided to "Outside the Lines" show the scope of Guillory's purchases:

• A hotel room in Hermosa Beach, which Johnson said Mayo and a girlfriend used.

• A 42-inch flat-screen TV, which Johnson said was for Mayo's dorm room.

• Meals and thousands of dollars worth of clothing.

Johnson said he was present on all of the shopping expeditions, and "Outside the Lines" has confirmed independently that Guillory and Mayo frequented two of the restaurants.

A Men's Land salesman, who gave his name as Eddie but declined to provide his last name, said, "[Mayo] got lots of stuff." Eddie remembered that O.J. acquired about 30 pairs of sneakers from his store over the course of the school year ("A lot of Jordans"), and said he even had Mayo's cell phone number programmed into his phone so he could call him when new merchandise came in.

Nate Turner, a clerk at the Culver City Men's Land location, said he remembers Guillory paying for Mayo's purchase on at least one occasion. He had Guillory's cell phone number programmed into his phone, but in a way that would remind him who Guillory normally shopped with: "Rodney Mayo."

How did Guillory get access to a sickle cell charity's credit card?

According to Johnson, Guillory sought out a longtime friend: a furniture store employee named Tony Hicks. Hicks also has an alias, federal court records show: "Amonra Elohim."

Since 2000, Hicks or Elohim has been listed as the sickle-cell charity's CEO, according to documents filed with the state of California. Hicks has a criminal record: In 2002, he pleaded guilty to mail fraud in connection with a mortgage scheme. In 2005, according to a U.S. District Court document, Hicks violated the terms of his probation because he "fraudulently represented himself as The Red Cross" by setting up a Web site soliciting donations for victims of the 2004 tsunami in Asia in which more than 275,000 people died.

"Outside the Lines" approached Hicks and asked him why the foundation gave Guillory an American Express card. "That's personal information," Hicks responded.

When asked why Hicks let Guillory spend thousands of dollars on Mayo using the card, Hicks replied, "No comment."

At the time of the purchases on the credit card last year, according to Johnson, neither he nor Mayo knew it was affiliated with a charity. Johnson said they only knew that Hicks had provided Guillory access to a card for Mayo's use. Johnson said he remembers Guillory escorting Mayo to a youth football game in which Hicks' son played last fall so Mayo could personally thank Hicks for arranging the credit for Guillory. Johnson said Mayo eventually grew suspicious about the purchases Guillory was making for him.

"He knew that there was something wrong with that situation; he just didn't know what it was," Johnson said. "He knew Rodney didn't have, like, great credit. He asked me what did I know about it."

Johnson said sometime in December, Mayo received an anonymous tip about the credit card and became so concerned that he convened a meeting in Venice Beach to discuss the card with Guillory and Johnson for fear of being seen or heard.

"He wanted to know what was the truth," Johnson said. "He said to Rodney, 'There's a lot going on here. What's real and what's not real? This can't all be made up.' And Rodney said that it was all made up, it was all fabricated, it was all a lie."

Johnson said that Mayo believed Guillory and when Johnson tried to bring up the topic a few days later, Mayo wanted to drop the matter.

"Rodney loves O.J. Let me say that," Johnson said. "And O.J. loves Rodney. But … Rodney doesn't always do things that are in the best of O.J.'s interest."

Johnson said there was never any discussion by Mayo or Guillory about whether they, along with Johnson, were possibly violating NCAA rules.

USC declined a request for an interview with Floyd, athletic director Mike Garrett or the school's compliance officer who reviewed Mayo's admission. But the school issued a statement that reads, in part: "The NCAA and the Pac-10 reviewed O.J. Mayo's amateur status before and during his enrollment at USC, and did not identify any amateurism violations. Mayo and USC fully cooperated in these investigations. The University investigated and reported a violation involving Mayo's receipt of tickets to a Denver Nuggets game from his friend Carmelo Anthony. Mayo's eligibility was reinstated after he made a charitable contribution in the amount of the value of the tickets."

As for Johnson, he said part of the reason he stopped hanging around Mayo's circle in March was because he was tired of being complicit in "some really sick things in regards to amateur sports." Still, Johnson doesn't blame Mayo for accepting gifts from Guillory.

"This is way bigger than some 'brand' and money and all of this stuff," Johnson said. "He played within the rules of the game, and this is the game. Runners, agents, shoe companies, other elements -- this is the game. … Once you're in the game, you're in the game. There's no turning back."

Reporter Kelly Naqi works in ESPN's enterprise unit. Producer Evan Kanew contributed to this report.

 

[Russ Smith]

The sickle cell thing is a huge deal it's an obvious case of fraud that could result in huge legal problems for Guillory if it proves to be true.

The non profit deal is not new, AAU teams have been setting themselves up as non profits for a few years now they then get colleges donating sums of money to the non profit who of course is a basketball team that happens to have players that school wants. It's a dirty business but Guillory just may be the guy that causes that stuff to end.

That said there's no way USC gets a death penalty, they haven't even got into trouble over Bush yet and with what happened at SMU(dave bliss) they didn't get the death penalty and neither will SC. I bet this entire season ends up forfeited though because Mayo was ineligible.

Just like the Bush case it takes someone being angry and telling on his ex partners to bust one of these cases. If you notice in the video, they show Davon Jefferson hanging out with Guillory and JOhnson too, Davon is Mayo's best friend on the team. And unlike Mayo he didn't sign with BDA he signed with Arn Tellem, wonder if someone at BDA will rat him out next?

I should add in hindsight the free tickets from Melo story from a few months ago takes a whole new light too. Melo's agent is BDA, Bill Duffy and Associates, the same agency accused of funneling money to Guillory to get Mayo. I have to believe knowing this the NCAA is going to reopen that investigation and ask Tim Floyd some very pointed questions about his claim that he approved Mayo taking those tickets. That's what got Mayo off the hook he just had to repay the money, if the NCAA hadn't believed Floyd he would have been suspended. I think in hindsight the fact that Melo has the same agent that was involved with mayo sure implies that there was more to that ticket story than came out the first time?

 

[Southpaw]

I should add in hindsight the free tickets from Melo story from a few months ago takes a whole new light too. Melo's agent is BDA, Bill Duffy and Associates, the same agency accused of funneling money to Guillory to get Mayo. I have to believe knowing this the NCAA is going to reopen that investigation and ask Tim Floyd some very pointed questions about his claim that he approved Mayo taking those tickets. That's what got Mayo off the hook he just had to repay the money, if the NCAA hadn't believed Floyd he would have been suspended. I think in hindsight the fact that Melo has the same agent that was involved with mayo sure implies that there was more to that ticket story than came out the first time?

I am of the opinion that the "repayment" for the tickets, which was actually a donation to a charity of his choice, is totally bogus. Now I wonder if the charity was Guillory's Sickle Cell Anemia fund. Mayo is surely living high for a poor kid from West Virginia.

 

[Russ Smith]

I am of the opinion that the "repayment" for the tickets, which was actually a donation to a charity of his choice, is totally bogus. Now I wonder if the charity was Guillory's Sickle Cell Anemia fund. Mayo is surely living high for a poor kid from West Virginia.

Wow Wally someone on BRO just asked the same question wouldn't it be interesting if the charity they donated to was the fake Sickle Cell charity.

I hope for Mayo's sake that's not the case, if it is he's suddenly implicated in the fraud.

Breaking NCAA rules is one thing he can't face any legal charges over that, but if he donated money to a charity he knew was bogus, he'd be in legal trouble.

I'm hoping he's smart enough not to have done that.

 

[bko32]

Sure it could. If player "x" knows he is only going to play for one year ( and not even attend class as some have not ) , there is the distinct possibility that player will just ride , slide and take for that year and the senior yr. of high school. A player with Mayo's talent and reputation gets to pick the school and terms of his employment. There is no fear of loss of eligibility and if the University keeps the blinders on and reaps the tournament success, this one year rule has much to do with that atmosphere. That makes the one year opt out rule a joke. NCAA BB is a sham when it comes to rules and reg's.

This issue is about getting money from agents or runners, not about coasting through 1 yr of college. I agree that the 1 yr rule is a joke because there's no reason for kids to go to class, they can coast, and all is good in their world. However, this case is about kids taking money while still an amateur. Whether this rule exists or not, kids are still going to take money when offered to them, regardless of how long they stay in school.

 

[Southpaw]

This issue is about getting money from agents or runners, not about coasting through 1 yr of college. I agree that the 1 yr rule is a joke because there's no reason for kids to go to class, they can coast, and all is good in their world. However, this case is about kids taking money while still an amateur. Whether this rule exists or not, kids are still going to take money when offered to them, regardless of how long they stay in school.

We don't have to agree, but I see a direct linkage. Coaches can look away for a year. The athlete is gone and in the pros before the NCAA sanction takes any action, even if they bother to. The money taking has been going on since cavemen were pitching rocks, but it just got a whole lot easier for runners, agents and the players and because the High Schools can get away with it much easier than colleges, the "special" players get an early start. Ya gotta have cash while you're wasting away at the University of Higher Pay with no classes to attend and a short season. How else does Mayo naisse get to ride around in a 65K Infiniti on the few bucks his single mom sends him. Prior to this rule, Special Player M would have to coast from High school to High school avoiding transcripts and just declare for the draft the day they hand out those H S diplomas . Now they actually have to spend a year in Limbo U and get the colleges involved in the muck while they flaunt their teflon coating.

 

[Russ Smith]

We don't have to agree, but I see a direct linkage. Coaches can look away for a year. The athlete is gone and in the pros before the NCAA sanction takes any action, even if they bother to. The money taking has been going on since cavemen were pitching rocks, but it just got a whole lot easier for runners, agents and the players and because the High Schools can get away with it much easier than colleges, the "special" players get an early start. Ya gotta have cash while you're wasting away at the University of Higher Pay with no classes to attend and a short season. How else does Mayo naisse get to ride around in a 65K Infiniti on the few bucks his single mom sends him. Prior to this rule, Special Player M would have to coast from High school to High school avoiding transcripts and just declare for the draft the day they hand out those H S diplomas . Now they actually have to spend a year in Limbo U and get the colleges involved in the muck while they flaunt their teflon coating.

Mayo rode a bike at SC a fact that was reported over and over this season to make sure we all knew Mayo wasn't on the take. Guillory got the 65K car although I'm sure Mayo got to ride in it and maybe even drive it.

I had an email conversation with an LA reporter 2 months ago about a bunch of this innuendo around Mayo and she actually told me you don't think it's coincidence that we all report Mayo rides a bike at SC? She said when you do an interview with him you have to go through Guillory first, and you are given information they want in the story and the bike is something they absolutely emphasize. They REALLY wanted people to know about that so it looked like Mayo was the typical poor kid in school barely scraping by.

They went out of their way to project that image, the problem is that everyone knew that wasn't true and they appear to have been caught.

I do agree this makes the NBA rule look bad because it's the only reason Mayo was in school. Mayo allegedly started taking money in 7th grade, at that time there was no rule stopping him from going straight to the NBA so he had no way of knowing that he was going to need his amateur status. By the time the rule was changed he'd been on the take for years he probably figured it's too late now, no going back.

My take is let HS kids enter the draft, if they don't get drafted, let them go to college if they want to. Don't force them into the one year sham we are seeing now because it's just going to end with more stories like this one.

 

[Russ Smith]

ESPN has an insider chat with the woman who broke the story. I got some of it for free but can't get it all. She has even more damning stuff in it though, 2 calls from Mayo's cell to BDA the sports agent.

She talked to Bill Duffy in February about Mayo as a prospect(before she knew about the link to Mayo) and he said he'd met him a few times but it wasn't appropriate for Duffy to comment since Mayo was a student. Then she contacted Duffy later to get his response to the story she was running and Duffy denied it said he'd never met Mayo until shortly before he signed with BDA in April. When she reminded him of the February conversation, Duffy declined to respond.

Too many people acting guilty here.

If you've seen the report when she confronts Mayo and says she wants to talk to him privately you can see the fear on his face, and with Guillory he literally opens a door and politely excuses himself away saying no comment over and over.

 

[Russ Smith]

This is so predictable they're already throwing each other under the bus here.

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

Late Sunday night, Duffy told ESPN.com by phone that he "didn't give Rodney any money. Did I set up a bank account for Rodney? No. That's absolutely ludicrous.

"My understanding is that Rodney mortgaged his house and was doing everything possible to maintain a close relationship with O.J. at O.J.'s request."

Duffy went on to say, "We didn't give O.J. one dime. I was told that O.J. had an exemplary year on campus and was riding his bike to class. We've got 80 clients who we put our heart and soul working for and we're not in a position where we have to buy clients."


Note once again the mention of Mayo riding the bike. It's like it's a script you can't talk about Mayo without mentioning this bike. But as you can see Duffy through Guillory under the bus suggesting he mortgaged his house to finance paying OJ, at Mayo's request.

This is going to get ugly.

 

[Russ Smith]

Excellent

 

[Rivercard]

Excellent

I guess he's the Reggie Bush of basketball.

 

[Russ Smith]

I guess he's the Reggie Bush of basketball.

This could be really interesting. ESPN is reporting the NCAA has permanently assigned 3 of its 20 investigators to follow basketball recruiting fulltime. They've never done this before assigned people to one specific sport. They will be at AAU events, shoe camps, summer events they will be there specifically to try and clean up recruiting and the stuff Mayo was involved in with agents.

Mayo in some ways may become a pariah to other players who find it's going to be a lot harder to get paid and pass amateur status checks. But in the long run he may be the best thing to happen to amateur basketball in ages, by Mayo getting caught maybe now they'll actually clean up the sport?

Of course Mayo personally won't suffer much other than maybe some lost endorsements.

 

[Russ Smith]

Well the parties continue to point the finger at each other. Yesterday BDA said they can prove they had nothing to do with this and that Rodney Guillory acted on his own. BIll Duffy stated that Guillory mortgaged his house to get the funds to "take care of OJ Mayo."

Mayo in an LA Times story today says that he hasn't spoken to Guillory since the story broke and that he wants to keep the relationship "distant" until he finds out what Guillory may have done. He insisted he personally had done nothing wrong but that he can't speak for what Guillory may have done. He was aware of Guillory's past and looked to see signs of that with him(Mayo) but never saw it.

So we now have Johnson throwing BDA, Guillory and mayo under the bus, BDA and Mayo throwing Guillory under the bus. At some point you would assume Guillory will throw someone under the bus.

And the guy everyone wants to get to speak on record is Dwaine Barnes Mayos ex AAU coach who he used to call his grandfather, the guy who hasn't been on speaking terms with OJ since he was told that Mayo was going to SC and not Kansas State where Barnes wanted him(before Huggins was canned).
Pretty much everyone assumes that Barnes has all sorts of information.

 

[Russ Smith]

Couple of interesting columns/blogs in the Cincy enquirer from 2 guys who covered Mayo for 3 years of HS. Tom Groeschen pointed out that the NCAA was so concerned about all the rumors about Mayo that they spent special investigators to NOrth College Hill highschool this past summer to investigate Mayo before the Clearinghouse approved him. They found no proof of payoffs and the coach there said he never saw any indication Mayo was getting money. He never mentioned how they explained who paid the rent on Mayo's apartment those 3 years he was living alone in Cincy but I gotta assume they looked at that and were satisified. Apparently they did the same thing in Huntington special investigators.

Starting to build a pretty good denial for USC, according to Groeschen Mayo was the only incoming freshman in the country the NCAA did that to, they obviously suspected something was wrong, but they found no proof, so how could they now hold SC responsible for not finding something they missed themselves?

The other writer Devin something said he recalls a conversation with Dwaine Barnes where he said he is really concerned with Guillory because everytime he's in town with Mayo, he treats Mayo "lavishly." He said he was concerned that Guillory might get OJ in trouble like he did 2 others before. Same writer said he interviewed Mayo once after talking to Guillory who introduced himself as Mayo's "manager." When he asked about guillory's past, guillory ended the interview and he never got another interview with mayo. When he asked Barnes what he thought of Mayo committing to SC Barnes got so mad he ended the interview and has never granted him another interview.

The NCH principal also flatly denies rumors printed by SI's Seth Davis originally in 2006 that said several people connected to the story told him that Dwaine Barnes was being paid a percentage of the attendance charges for North College Hill games and that he routinely pushed the school to get opponents to reschedule road games in bigger venues so he could get a percentage of the gate.

All this smoke and the NCAA found no proof in the Summer?

This will be really interesting to see how the NCAA handles a case where everyone including them thought Mayo was dirty but couldn't prove it.

 

[Russ Smith]

Scott Wolf's USC blog is claiming that Guillory first offered Mayo to UCLA but UCLA said no because Kevin Love vetoed it. Now Love hadn't commited yet but Wolf says UCLA "knew Love was coming and asked for his input."

This is semi consistent wtih the long rumor on UCLA boards that was Guillory offered Mayo to UCLA first, UCLA investigated Mayo and said no thanks, so they then picked SC.

The difference is Wolf is implying Love said no dice, not UCLA, in other words implying UCLA was willing to take Mayo if Love was ok with it.

I don't care who vetoed the idea I'm just glad someone did.

 

[Southpaw]

I don't understand the NBA role in this that Donovan is asking for. If colleges won't control themselves, why is it the NBA's responsibility? Maybe Billy thinks that if schools have different levels of self discipline, the "kids" will stay away from the ones with ethics.

Donovan: NBA needs to step up
Florida men's basketball coach would like to see league do a better job of protecting college athletes

BY DAVID JONES • FLORIDA TODAY • May 21, 2008

Florida coach Billy Donovan recruited O.J. Mayo early in the process and almost landed his high school teammate, Patrick Patterson out of Huntington, W.Va.

Mayo went to Southern Cal, which is currently involved in the controversy of potential dealings with an agent both while Mayo was in high school and in college. Patterson went on to Kentucky.

So Donovan got a pretty good idea of the whirlwind that surrounded Mayo. He decided to stop recruiting him when it became obvious Mayo would only play one year of college before heading off to the NBA.

"O.J. Mayo, in his situation, was a sad story in the fact that I know O.J. because of Patrick Patterson and him playing at the same high school," Donovan said on Tuesday. "And I saw a lot of the stuff that was going on around him, and to hear that he had to deal with that since he's been at the end of his ninth-grade year with people trying to position themselves around him is an unfortunate thing."

Donovan said he had no knowledge of money being involved, but heard a lot through the coaching grapevine about the tug of war going on around Mayo, who he called, "a good kid."

"You just hear different things, and I don't know all the people that were around O.J.," Donovan said. "But certainly in the rumor mill in college basketball . . . sometimes these guys can be targets a little bit. And I saw it with (Joakim) Noah, (Al) Horford and (Corey) Brewer, Mike Miller and guys like that, guys try to position themselves to represent somebody."

Noah, Horford and Brewer all returned after UF won the 2006 national title to repeat the following season. All ended up being high NBA draft picks as juniors. UF has had several other high draft picks in the past. So Donovan had his own problems with agents.

"There have been players here that have come to me and said, 'Coach this guy will not stop calling me and this guy will not leave me alone, will you make a phone call?' " Donovan said. "When they tell me to do that, that's generally when I pick up the phone and say, 'Listen, OK, you need to stop. The kid's coming to me . . . and I'd appreciate you stopping it."'

NBA agent rules do not apply to high school or college players. The NCAA has very strict rules about how college coaches can recruit high school players, limiting contact.

"There's no rules on the agents," Donovan said. "They can make contact, they can come around, they can live here in Gainesville, Florida. If they want to, they can talk to these kids any time they want. They can go meet with their families, They can do all these sorts of things, and I think there needs to be a situation where the (NBA) Players Association is looking to put some type of rules and regulations on when they can be contacted, how often they can be contacted to let these kids at least do what they need to do in getting better in school and in getting better as basketball players. And you know what? At the end of the day, if they are ready to go and play (in the NBA), they could play. But I think so many of these kids now are being targeted at a young age."

Donovan said the possible problems from the Mayo case are a perfect example.

"When those situations happen people are immediately looking to point fingers and cast blame," he said. "Who is at fault? Is USC at fault, is O.J. Mayo at fault, is the system at fault? I just think the system, in my opinion, could be a lot better and could protect college institutions and could protect the players a little bit better."

 

[Russ Smith]

I don't understand the NBA role in this that Donovan is asking for. If colleges won't control themselves, why is it the NBA's responsibility? Maybe Billy thinks that if schools have different levels of self discipline, the "kids" will stay away from the ones with ethics.

I have a few issues with this story. First off, Donovan just admitted that he was recruiting Mayo after he verbally committed to USC which while not a violation of any rule is a violation of the "gentleman's agreement" all coaches have that once a kid verbals you don't recruit him. Mayo verballed to SC when he was still playing at North College HIll in Ohio, he didn't become Patrick Patterson's teammate until the school year for his senior year started he actually attended NCH for one day before transferring to Huntington High for his senior year. Since Donovan said he recruited Patterson and got to know Mayo that way, it proves he was recruiting Mayo during his senior year if I understand this correctly? Florida did recruit Mayo that was well known, but it supposedly stopped well before Mayo committed to USC, Donovan is implying here that's not true.

My understanding is the NBAPA already has a rule against agents contacting kids and trying to induce them with gifts. OBviously the NBA could make the rule stronger by saying any agent caught doing that will lose his license to be an agent in the NBA, but I think the current rule is fairly strong.

Donovan knows all about agents his former player Mike Miller got caught dealing with agent Andy Miller who has been caught breaking the rule 3 times now. Mike Miller, Erick Barkley, and then he's the guy who signed Telfair when he was playing his senior year of HS, it's in the book The Jump the author literally saw it happen. Rather than beat around the bush Donovan should have just said look I had a player get caught up in this and get suspended. It's well known that the reason most schools didn't recruit Mayo was all the rumors Donovan talks about, everyone knew what happens to a kid who's on the take if he gets caught, he's suspended or ruled ineligible.

I agree agents have to be held accountable, but I get so tired of people saying this isn't Mayo's fault this isn't SC's fault this is the agents fault. It's the fault of all of them, if there weren't kids willing to play one agent against another for financial gain, this stuff wouldn't happen. Mayo got paid via Dwaine Barnes for years, then Guillory got involved and started paying Mayo and eventually convinced Mayo his deal was better so Mayo dropped Barnes.


This blurb is from a Cincy Enquirer reporters blog, it was written in February 2008, 3 months before Mayo got caught. Most of the stuff he's referencing happened during Mayo's junior year of HS. By then USC was well involved in his recruitment they knew the rumors they just chose to ignore them and hope they would never be proven true.

---------------------



Guillory, you might recall, has long been a Southern California-based confidant of Mayo's. He was often present at the D1 Greyhounds' hotel when they traveled the country as an AAU team and would introduce Mayo to celebrities and such. When Mayo was a junior, I tried to set up and interview with him and got a call back from Guillory (who up to that point, I had never met in person or via phone) who told me he was O.J.'s manager. That didn't go over well with Dwaine Barnes, Mayo's "guardian" who complained to me -- back when he still spoke to me -- a few times about Guillory's influence over Mayo because of the way Guillory seemed to lavish Mayo whenever Guillory was at the same tournament as the Greyhounds.

I'm a little suprised then that Guillory's presence in Mayo's life since Mayo became a big-time hoops star hasn't come under more scrutiny at USC. Guillory, as it is well known in hoops circles, is a former "runner." By that, I mean he cost former Fresno State player Tito Maddox eight games in 2000-01 because Guillory, who was indirectly representing the Las Vegas sports agency Franchise Sports, paid for Maddox' plane ticket to Las Vegas while he still played for Fresno. Maddox later estimated to receiving a total of about $30,000. Guillory was only directly implicated in the one plane ticket, but he was friends with the Franchise Sports crew.

Guillory stopped return my calls two summers ago when I started asking him what his interest in Mayo was. Mayo listed him at the time as "the most impressive person he'd ever met," in a progam for an international event in San Diego. Barnes said that was another power play of Guillory's, designed to make the shoe companies take notice that if they wanted access to Mayo, they'd have to go through Guillory first.

I'm not saying that Mayo did anything or accepted anything to compromise his collegiate eligibility. I don't know that for a fact. But I do know that the presence of Rodney Guillory -- who the Times reports is a regular around the USC locker room -- raises questions that someday the NCAA might want answered.

---------------------------------------------

That guy says for the last 2 years Barnes, Guillory and Mayo have refused to take his calls or do interviews ever since he wrote a story that said Guillory has replaced Barnes as the controlling power in Mayo's career. It's frankly amazing it took this long for someone to get mad and spill the beans, in this case Louis Johnson. Mayo's just lucky it wasn't Barnes.

 

[Skkorpion]

I see all of this in simpler terms.

1. The NBA's self-imposed rule created the one-and-done problem, exascerbating the underlying existing festering sore that many inner city kids, who are the best young basketball players, don't have the academic tools or motivation to succeed in college classes.

2. The "kids" (like Mayo) have been treated as being special since a young age and willingly work the system to their advantage. These spoiled punks feel entitled and are loyal to no one, taking no responsibilty nor blame when caught and show no remorse.

3. The coaches and colleges care nothing about the players and educating them. The kids are simply used by the agents, coaches and schools as rainmakers.

All are to blame and no meaningful reform is possible or likely. Those schools who wish to cheat will. Those who don't won't.

 

[Russ Smith]

I see all of this in simpler terms.

1. The NBA's self-imposed rule created the one-and-done problem, exascerbating the underlying existing festering sore that many inner city kids, who are the best young basketball players, don't have the academic tools or motivation to succeed in college classes.

2. The "kids" (like Mayo) have been treated as being special since a young age and willingly work the system to their advantage. These spoiled punks feel entitled and are loyal to no one, taking no responsibilty nor blame when caught and show no remorse.

3. The coaches and colleges care nothing about the players and educating them. The kids are simply used by the agents, coaches and schools as rainmakers.

All are to blame and no meaningful reform is possible or likely. Those schools who wish to cheat will. Those who don't won't.

Yes it's a systemic problem it's not Mayo or Guillory or SC it's the entire system.

When Mayo started taking cash there was no rule forcing him to go to college for a year, by the time he was a senior in HS, the rule was in place and he'd long since violated amateur status. The simple thing to do was go play overseas for a year but he didn't. If you go back and look you'll see story after story where a writer predicted Mayo would do just that it wasn't because they thought Mayo wanted to play overseas it's because everyone thought he wouldn't be allowed to play in college so he'd just skip the whole thing and go overseas.

Seriously when Bob Huggins says no I don't want to touch that kid you know there's truth to the allegations ESPN is making.

 

[Southpaw]

I see all of this in simpler terms.

1. The NBA's self-imposed rule created the one-and-done problem, exascerbating the underlying existing festering sore that many inner city kids, who are the best young basketball players, don't have the academic tools or motivation to succeed in college classes.

2. The "kids" (like Mayo) have been treated as being special since a young age and willingly work the system to their advantage. These spoiled punks feel entitled and are loyal to no one, taking no responsibilty nor blame when caught and show no remorse.

3. The coaches and colleges care nothing about the players and educating them. The kids are simply used by the agents, coaches and schools as rainmakers.

All are to blame and no meaningful reform is possible or likely. Those schools who wish to cheat will. Those who don't won't.

Spot on. Imagine being a GM that will be dealing with these types. Not for me.