More bad news for USC, Demar Derozan may ask out of LOI

[Russ Smith]

DeRozan might ask out if Trojans are punished in Mayo case


All-American guard is said to be watching NCAA inquiry of USC. Father: 'He wants to go there and help build the basketball program, but we can't do that with a cloud hanging over the school's head.'



By Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 14, 2008


DeMar DeRozan, USC's star basketball recruit, may consider another college if the Trojans face severe sanctions by the NCAA over illegal extra benefits allegedly received by O.J. Mayo.

DeRozan's father and older half-brother said today that the Compton High star, one of the nation's top-rated high school players, would consider requesting a release from the scholarship he accepted from USC in November.

This is a good wake-up call," Jermaine DeRozan, DeMar's half-brother, said. "I'm just hoping SC doesn't get put on probation [If it does], I would get . . . out of there."

Recruits who sign letters of intent are required to gain a release from that school to be eligible immediately without sitting out a season.

The NCAA and Pacific 10 Conference are investigating Mayo because of allegations that he received tens of thousands of dollars in cash and gifts from Rodney Guillory, a Los Angeles events promoter said to be acting as a representative of a sports agency.

Guillory reportedly received about $200,000 in cash plus a $50,000 sports utility vehicle from Bill Duffy Associates, funneling about $30,000 to Mayo, who recently announced that BDA vice president Calvin Andrews would be his agent as a pro.

If the allegations are proved true, Mayo could be declared retroactively ineligible. And if the NCAA is convinced USC took part or knew about any violations, the athletic program could be punished by losing scholarships or being banned from postseason play.

"If they can't make the tournament next year, that's what we're going to college for," Jermaine DeRozan said. "If you do your one year, you at least have to shine and get to the tournament with the intentions of winning it or get to the Elite Eight."

Mayo and Bill Duffy Associates have denied any wrongdoing. USC says it is cooperating with the NCAA and that circumstances surrounding the player from Huntington, W.Va., were thoroughly examined before Mayo enrolled.

DeRozan's father, Frank, said DeMar woke him up Sunday morning after the accusations, made by former Mayo confidant and Guillory associate Louis Johnson, became public when broadcast on the ESPN show, "Outside the Lines."

"He brought it to my attention and said, 'Man, that's messed up,' " Frank DeRozan said.

Compton High Coach Tony Thomas said he recently had been contacted by assistant coaches from two Final Four participants -- UCLA, North Carolina, Kansas and Memphis -- inquiring about DeRozan's availability.

"They wanted to make sure if anything happened, don't forget about them," Thomas said.

DeMar, a 6-foot-6 shooting guard, is a McDonald's All-American who averaged 30.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 4.0 steals as a high school senior. As to what his son's college alternatives might be, Frank DeRozan said, "His main thing is, he wants to go [to USC] and help build the basketball program, but we can't do that with a cloud hanging over the school's head.

"We're just trying to see how things play out. He doesn't want to leave home because his mother is still sick" -- she suffers from lupus -- "and isn't getting any better."

Jermaine DeRozan said the allegations surrounding Mayo have served as a cautionary tale for his brother. "It's good that it happened before it happened to us and the warning signs are out there," he said. He added that the allegations have left his younger brother "scared" and questioning the motivations of those trying to get close to him.

"With this stuff with O.J., our circle is getting a little tighter," Jermaine said.

Frank DeRozan said Guillory once attempted to recruit DeMar to play for his Amateur Athletic Union team, and when his advances were rebuffed, Guillory told other AAU coaches that DeMar was 15 years old when in fact he was 13.

The family then had to go to some lengths to straighten out the discrepancy.

"He was real mad because DeMar wouldn't play on his team," Frank DeRozan said of Guillory. "He went out and lied to a couple of other AAU coaches and said DeMar was older than he was. I said [to Guillory], 'You can't say nothing else to me.' "
Meanwhile, the source of the allegations against Guillory and Mayo told The Times via e-mail Tuesday that he would not comment on the situation until a later date, referring all inquiries to his Los Angeles-based attorney.

Louis Johnson wrote, "I understand there are a lot of people who have tried to get in contact with me. When the appropriate time comes, I will address a lot of the issues that my revelations have recently uncovered."


http://www.latimes.com/sports/...0,2935207.story

 

[Russ Smith]

From past rumors one assumption is Arizona would be a logical move since he's a childhood friend of Jennings. But with Jennings qualifying status not clear that may not be true. Article says he has been contacted by 2 of the 4 Final 4 teams but doesn't say which 2. He'd fit great at Memphis in their offense, UNC offered him before. UCLA never offered supposedly his grades are iffy for UCLA, Kansas I don't think was ever recruiting him. UCLA may not have a scholarship for him depending on how many guys pull out of the draft, Memphis is the obvious team in that regard, I'm not sure how many rides Kansas has.

And of course if Derozan asked out what would USC do with Lil Romeo?

 

[Gaddabout]

Won't matter. USC won't be touched by bad Mayo. Appears they insulated themselves enough ("na na na na na, I don't see nothing") to have plausible deniability, which is the NCAA litmus test on whether or not the school deserves punishment.

Didn't know Derozan's mom had Lupus. That's awful.

 

[Russ Smith]

Won't matter. USC won't be touched by bad Mayo. Appears they insulated themselves enough ("na na na na na, I don't see nothing") to have plausible deniability, which is the NCAA litmus test on whether or not the school deserves punishment.

Didn't know Derozan's mom had Lupus. That's awful.

I don't see plausible deniablity when the guy who's paying Mayo got caught paying 2 players 8 years ago one of whom (Jeff Trepagnier) played at USC?

My thing is as slow as investigations go it's unlikely Derozan will know in time that USC is going on probation I think he's going to have to decide on his own because it's quite likely any decision won't be made until after he's enrolled at SC and can't get out of his LOI.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Nothing will go down (if any punishment happens at all) until Derozan has declared for the 2009 NBA Draft so USC fan probably shouldn't worry. And I'm guessing even if a punishment occurs it will be nothing more than a scholarship or two lost and 2007-2008 games being forfeited neither of which will affect this upcoming season.

 

[Russ Smith]

The part that kills me in this story is the part I bolded about what Guillory did to Demar when he was 13 years old!

It really amazes me that Demar signed with USC knowing how tight Guillory was with the program, you'd think he'd hold a grudge over that I sure as hell would have?

 

[bko32]

I agree that nothing much will happen to USC. The NCAA and Pac-10 already examined Mayo's amateur status before he enrolled at USC and determined that he was eligible. I'm not saying that just because the NCAA and Pac-10 found no violations that Mayo is clean, but that they'll use this excuse to let Mayo and USC off the hook.

 

[bko32]

And of course if Derozan asked out what would USC do with Lil Romeo?

This would be funny if Derozan leaves, and USC is stuck with Lil Romeo.

Here's a question that was brought up on another message board that I thought was interesting. Are there any rules regarding college players buying gifts, giving out money, etc. to teammates? Meaning, could Lil Romeo pay Derozan's rent, buy him free stuff, give him straight cash (homey!), etc. if they were teammates?? Not that Romeo would do this, but he's got enough money to throw around that he could use his wealth to entice future recruits. Just curious. Any thoughts??

 

[Russ Smith]

This would be funny if Derozan leaves, and USC is stuck with Lil Romeo.

Here's a question that was brought up on another message board that I thought was interesting. Are there any rules regarding college players buying gifts, giving out money, etc. to teammates? Meaning, could Lil Romeo pay Derozan's rent, buy him free stuff, give him straight cash (homey!), etc. if they were teammates?? Not that Romeo would do this, but he's got enough money to throw around that he could use his wealth to entice future recruits. Just curious. Any thoughts??

Farmar and Shipp are best friend since they were 8, they are roomates, but Shipp pays half the bills because of NCAA rules. Just like in the Mayo/Melo case Floyd said they had a prior relationship but the NCAA ruled because that relationship was based on basketball, it was a violation. So Romeo can't go and pay for everything or hand out money or gifts etc while at SC. THere's distinct limits.

For example James Dunleavy is a walkon at SC and their compliance ruled he can take one teammate per month to a Clips game for freem any more is a violation. That was one of the violations Mayo committed he not only took tickets from Melo, he took them from Dunleavy too.

 

[Gaddabout]

I don't see plausible deniablity when the guy who's paying Mayo got caught paying 2 players 8 years ago one of whom (Jeff Trepagnier) played at USC?

My thing is as slow as investigations go it's unlikely Derozan will know in time that USC is going on probation I think he's going to have to decide on his own because it's quite likely any decision won't be made until after he's enrolled at SC and can't get out of his LOI.

For anything substantial to come out of this, either Louis Johnson or OJ Mayo will have to testify USC knew what was going on. LJ has already stated he didn't believe USC was fully aware, either because they didn't want to know or were just too stupid to put things together. There's no leverage on Mayo since he's leaving, so he's going to play Reggie Bush.

Worst thing that could happen to USC is they're given a slap on the wrist for not paying more attention, but it's still a long, far cry from the "lack of institutional control" the NCAA uses to condemn the worst sins. MAYBE they lose a scholie for allowing Guillory in their offices when Mayo faxed in his LOI.

The ONLY thing that will stop this kind of behavior is for the NBA to add another year to their age restriction, but I don't think the player's union or the U.S. courts will allow it. So the NCAA is up a creek without a paddle trying to nail these one-and-done kids who've figured out how to really work the system.

 

[Russ Smith]

For anything substantial to come out of this, either Louis Johnson or OJ Mayo will have to testify USC knew what was going on. LJ has already stated he didn't believe USC was fully aware, either because they didn't want to know or were just too stupid to put things together. There's no leverage on Mayo since he's leaving, so he's going to play Reggie Bush.

Worst thing that could happen to USC is they're given a slap on the wrist for not paying more attention, but it's still a long, far cry from the "lack of institutional control" the NCAA uses to condemn the worst sins. MAYBE they lose a scholie for allowing Guillory in their offices when Mayo faxed in his LOI.

The ONLY thing that will stop this kind of behavior is for the NBA to add another year to their age restriction, but I don't think the player's union or the U.S. courts will allow it. So the NCAA is up a creek without a paddle trying to nail these one-and-done kids who've figured out how to really work the system.

Generally you're right but the comments from Myles Brand yesterday were almost a pre-emptive assault on USC he basically said plausible deniability is not an option here.

Part of the thing here is that USC(at least their fans are) is claiming that the NCAA did an extremely thorough investigation of Mayo that included sending agents to West Virginia to interview people for background on rumors about Mayo's amateur status, yet they still cleared him. It's the first I've heard of this I honestly doubt the nCAA had any jurisdiction to do that before Mayo enrolled, all I'm aware of is the NCAA Clearinghouse amateur status checks which I expected him to fail, but he passed. Even if SC fans are right and the NCAA went that extra step, what they said yesterday was due to new information not available before, we're opening an investigation. That's to me saying if the NCAA and USC and the Pac 10 all suspected something was there but couldn't find it, it's perfectly reasonable for the NCAA and Pac 10 to clear the player but still punish the school later.

Teh rules are quite clear the NCAA is not a police organization they have rules in place but it's the responsibility of the member institutions to ensure those rules are enforced and followed by their student athletes. So it's perfectly plausible they can rule even though we couldn't find it either, it was reasonable to believe there was something going on and USC failed to monitor the player at USC.

Although I have to admit extreme bias in this case since I've been telling people for 2+ years Mayo was on the take and has been for years, so I'm feeling quite vindicated now that it's in the open.

his denial yesterday was classic he said he never took money from agents, any money he had came from his family or friends sending it to him. Hello if you read the ESPN story it says Guillory wired money to Mayo's friends in West Virginia who then gave it to Mayo, so his denial of getting money from friends fits exactly with Johnson's explanation of how they got Mayo the money.

The story in the Times today said Mayo is now driving a new red Porsche but of course he has signed with an agent now so that's not a surprise.