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They had somebody from O.J. Mayo's inner circle on TV talking openly.
Right then, I knew it would be good.
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| Gary Parrish: Tim Floyd must've known what he was getting into when he offered a scholarship to O.J. Mayo. (Getty Images) |
Just a brilliant and thorough job of reporting by Outside the Line's Kelly Naqi, who sat across from former Mayo associate Louis Johnson and asked the specific questions that provided the detailed answers to how Mayo allegedly benefited from a relationship with Rodney Guillory. That the relationship was shady came as no shock. Gregg Doyel of CBSSports.com wrote about it more than a year ago and I addressed the situation again in December after a -- how to put this politely? -- somewhat naive New York Times story suggested Mayo chose Southern California "because he wanted to help create a legacy, to be a pioneer."
My response to that story?
Yep, that O.J. Mayo. He's a modern-day Daniel Boone.
The real reason Mayo is at USC is a man named Rodney Guillory, an L.A-based event promoter whom the NCAA once deemed a "runner" for an agent. Guillory is a mentor to Mayo, and he guided Mayo to USC by walking into Tim Floyd's office one day and asking Floyd if he'd like to coach the budding superstar. And yes, it was that easy. Guillory, who formed a bond with Mayo in recent years, lived in L.A., so Mayo was going to attend college in L.A., plain and simple. If Guillory lived in Chicago, Mayo would be playing at DePaul. If Guillory lived in Milwaukee, Mayo would be playing at Marquette. But because Guillory lives in Los Angeles, Mayo is playing at Southern California.
So am I surprised Guillory allegedly provided Mayo with thousands of dollars?
No.
And am I surprised the money allegedly came from sports agency Bill Duffy Associates?
No.
But it's one thing to imply something and quite another to prove something, to actually get somebody on the inside (like Johnson) to talk on the record. Which is why Naqi's work was tremendous and Guillory is an idiot, because everybody in the business of making inappropriate deals knows the circle consisting of those involved must be tight and trustworthy, and that all characters must be "taken care of" to the point where it doesn't make sense for them to get frustrated (like Johnson) and go on national television (like Johnson) to tell their story, damaging receipts in hand.
(When will these cheaters ever learn?)
Anyway, now the focus is on Southern California.
Question: Why did it not know this was happening?
Answer: Because it did not want to know this was happening.
It's called plausible deniability and it's the preferred approach for schools trying to run big-time programs because many of the most-desired prospects are tainted long before they enroll in college, and everybody knows it. Amateur basketball is sketchy stuff, you see, because the elite talents are easy to identify at an early age, and once the elite talents are identified they are recruited by agents and hangers-on in an aggressive manner, which makes sense considering the gamble is minimal and potential payoff huge.
The make-it-to-the-NBA rate for top 10 high school prospects is remarkably high.
Check the numbers if you don't believe me.
Consequently, an agent or runner or agenda-driven individual can begin investing emotionally and financially in any top 10 prospect when said prospect is a junior in high school and feel reasonably safe that he will recoup every penny and millions more in a span of two or three or four years, tops. And as long as there are millions of dollars to be made there's going to be people trying to gain an advantage to make it, and that's how men like Guillory make their living and prospects like Mayo end up with flat screen TVs.
Alas, this isn't stopping anytime soon.
Which brings me to Floyd and his role in the saga.
Floyd is a smart guy who has been around this sport for decades. He knows how it works and must've known what he was getting into when he offered a scholarship to Mayo. I mean, he read the above-mentioned column from Doyel, I'm certain. And yet USC still took Mayo, which isn't looking so smart now. Thing is, practically every program in America -- save a select few -- would've taken Mayo just the same, and then they would've done the exact thing USC did, i.e., close their eyes and cover their ears and yell la la la la la until the season was complete because that's typical behavior for coaches these days.
Most coaches don't ask questions.
Most coaches don't disrupt lifestyles.
Most coaches -- save a select few -- just cross their fingers and hope nothing blows up on them, and if it does they plead ignorance and explain to the NCAA that they can't be with the prospects they recruit or the players they coach 24 hours a day and thus can't reasonably be held accountable for what happens between prospects and players and agents. It's why Pete Carroll didn't personally suffer for Reggie Bush, why Mike Krzyzewski didn't personally suffer for Corey Maggette, why John Calipari didn't personally suffer for Marcus Camby, why Norm Stewart didn't personally suffer for Jevon Crudup, so on and so forth.
Likewise, it's why Floyd won't get fired for Mayo.
And it's why USC won't get hammered by the NCAA the way some might expect.
Lack of institutional control?
I doubt it.
Lack of genuinely wanting to know?
Now that's a charge that just might stick.