Trojans try to erase memories of Mayo

O.J. Mayo today is a different kind of invisible man. He has not been erased at Southern California because his body does not absorb or reflect light. H.G. Wells would be stumped.

Mayo has been labeled undetectable by the university he called home for one college basketball season because the Trojans violated NCAA rules as they related to Mayo and Rodney Guillory, a former runner for BDA Sports Management.

In the thoughts of USC, Mayo is forever out of sight, out of mind and off its walls in the form of a mural of him that once hung at Heritage Hall.

He is a present-day version of a Fab Five player.

“No matter what I tell you or anyone else, the decision has been made, and I just have to continue trying to be the best person and player I can be,” Mayo said. “They feel violations were committed. The school and NCAA did what they felt was best for them. I’m still always going to be a Trojan, whether they like it or not.

“I attended school there, went to class with some of the best students in the world there, left a lot of blood, sweat and tears on the court there. I gave 110 percent every day there.

“They can’t take any of that away from me. It was a great experience, a great university. But they can’t take away the heart and effort I gave them.”

Mayo is the less-publicized option in a two-athlete scandal that shook the ethical foundation of USC and led to Mike Garrett being replaced as athletic director this week.

As with anything in college athletics, football has received the most attention in the matter, specifically those NCAA sanctions imposed because of violations found in regards to Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush during his sophomore and junior seasons.

But as an NBA player here competing for Team USA while trying to make the roster that will compete at the world championships next month in Turkey, Mayo was directly linked to his own trail of misconduct in Los Angeles.

For it, USC self-imposed sanctions on its basketball program, which included a one-year postseason ban last season, reduction in scholarships and restrictions on recruiting. It also returned the money it made playing in the NCAA Tournament with Mayo.

Runners and agents have been a big-time problem in college sports long before Nick Saban referred to them as pimps. But everyone involved in the cheating that went on at USC deserves blame. Bush. Those who gave his parents a rent-free home in San Diego. Former football coach Pete Carroll. Garrett. Former basketball coach Tim Floyd. Guillory. Mayo.

This was a group effort in both lacking institutional control and outright dishonesty.

Colleges today spend 10 times as much on NCAA compliance as a decade ago. That means more staffing, more rules to interpret and follow, more red flags raised on a daily basis.

Not all of it makes sense. There are rules I am convinced are simply made up over late-night poker games where NCAA officials laugh their heads off at the absurdity of them.

Then there are the obvious ones.

“There is no way everybody can keep up with all of it,” Team USA and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “Violations are going to be committed. You just hope you know things like, ‘I’m going to give you a car’ or ‘I’m going to give your father a job’ are wrong. A lot of other things aren’t so easy to always interpret. Basically, before we do anything now, it’s always like, ‘Get this checked out.’ “

What happened at USC wasn’t overly difficult to interpret. They involved extra benefits of the most clear kind. The athletes left behind in football and basketball again suffer. It’s always the case.

The ones gone to Super Bowl wins or multimillion-dollar contracts with the Memphis Grizzlies simply continue to live their incredibly wealthy lives.

“If there is one thing I feel bad about, it’s that this affected players there now,” Mayo said. “They chose the university because it was the best fit for them. I’m sorry for whatever distractions I caused in their careers and hope they can overcome it. But I have to move on. When I walk into hotels, I still hear, ‘Go SC, Fight On!’ People still give me the victory sign. As long as the fans there still accept me, that’s great. That’s my school. It always will be.”

Even if it thinks him invisible.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at
egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618.