March 21, 2007 4:24 pm  |  47 Comments

‘O. J. Mayo doesn’t give out his cell’

‘He’ll call you.’

by Marcel Mutoni

There’s a great story in the NY Times today about USC recruit O.J. Mayo. Basically, one day last summer, some guy walked into Tim Floyd’s office and asked him two fairly simple questions:

“How would you like to have the best player in the country?”

“Have you heard of O. J. Mayo?”

Floyd, who you might remember from such classics as the 15-67 ‘98 Bulls and 13-37 ‘99 Bulls, hadn’t even bothered to send a recruiting letter to Mayo figuring his school had no shot at the stud point guard. Despite the coach’s skepticism, the stranger pressed on in a meeting that lasted about 45 minutes according to Floyd.

“O. J. wanted me to come here today,” the man told Floyd. “He wanted me to figure out who you are.”

The man explained that Mayo wanted to market himself before going to the N.B.A., and that Los Angeles would give him the best possible platform.

“Then why aren’t you at U.C.L.A.?” Floyd asked.

The man shook his head. U.C.L.A. had already won 11 national championships. It had already produced many N.B.A. stars. Mayo wanted to be a pioneer for a new era.

O.J. Mayo, who ended his high school career by throwing down a dunk and earned himself a technical foul thereafter by launching the ball into the delirious crowd, eventually called and informed a stunned Floyd that he was coming to USC without even having laid eyes on the campus or with any knowledge of the players on the roster.

It’s an amazing story, and it illustrates just how helpless even an institution as large and powerful as USC can be in the face of a big talent, with an even bigger ego.

  • Add a Comment
    • Digg
    • del.icio.us
    • Facebook
    • Google
    • StumbleUpon
    • TwitThis
    • Yahoo! Buzz
    • Print this article!

This story is filed under: Blogs, College, High School, Mutoni's Spot

Read more like this in:

  • Q-Rich Posted: Mar.21 at 5:39 pm
    First. Thats crazy. I hope he lives up to the hype, which he prolly won’t. Thats too much damn hype.

  • Max Airington Posted: Mar.21 at 5:40 pm
    He recruits too. Did you see his last game? This is not going to end well.

  • H to the izzo Posted: Mar.21 at 5:47 pm
    This may be a horrible thing to say but but I hope he fails in college and in the NBA.Just because you’re good(but behind Gordon,Rose and Love) doesn’t meen you have to be an asshole

  • Dblizzy! Posted: Mar.21 at 5:53 pm
    Don’t get me wrong, Tim Floyd would be a complete fool not to offer him a scholarship, but I think it just illustrates the sad state of basketball in this counrty. The player is way bigger than the game these days. Look at his quotes, he’s more interested in making history and filming a documentary than playing ball. He didn’t say he wanted to come to USC because Floyd has a good program, or he coached NBA players before, he just wants to be remembered as the blue chip recruit that did the unexpected and signed with a non powerhouse school. The recruiting process was already a joke, but this takes the cake!

  • Chris Posted: Mar.21 at 5:58 pm
    USC’s in the sweet sixteen this year so unless O.J gets them to the final four or the championship game, he won’t make that much of a difference. I hope Oden and Durant stick around to bounce him out of the tourney next year and to make sure he’s not the #1 pick. What a chump.

  • H to the izzo Posted: Mar.21 at 6:04 pm
    This also just shows that he sees it(college) as an obligitory obstacle in his way to “stardom”.Which begs a few questions:will he even go to class after the second semester?and was Bob Knight right all along?

  • Russ Bengtson Posted: Mar.21 at 6:23 pm
    This whole story is an argument FOR kids going pro out of high school. Because hell, O.J.’s acting like a pro already anyway.

  • ojmayonnaise Posted: Mar.21 at 6:56 pm
    O.J. Mayo for president!

  • Derms Posted: Mar.21 at 7:04 pm
    He is a douche bag clown. He was better in 8th grade than he is now.

  • Burim beqiri Posted: Mar.21 at 9:30 pm
    wow this guy is gonna be aone of the best in the NBA…..

  • Drolfe Posted: Mar.21 at 11:55 pm
    I can’t believe this guy. He’s making a mockery out of the whole system. Ego. Goddamn.

  • bja Posted: Mar.22 at 6:59 am
    The college basketball system is already a mockery.

  • Ds Posted: Mar.22 at 9:27 am
    WOW! these guys must have never seen Mayo in person. i am sure that basketball success will follow him and that his commanding presence will alter USC basketball forever! He is the current future of professional basket ball. All you have to do is wait a couple of years and you’ll see for yourself…

  • Ryan Jones Posted: Mar.22 at 9:46 am
    Just to play devil’s advocate on this one: Many (most?) elite prospects make their college decision based largely on which college coach blows the most happy smoke up their a**. I’ve been interviewing high school basketball players for the past 10 years, and more often than not, the good ones say they decided on such and such U. at least partly because “Coach showed me the most love” or “they were on to me before anyone else” or whatever. Personally, I kinda like the idea of a kid picking a school because HE liked it long before he ever got a sales pitch. Isn’t that how most non-athletes pick a college — you find one that suits your needs and apply? If OJ’s “needs” are a program where he’s gonna get a lot of exposure, prepare himself for the NBA (and Tim Floyd’s NBA record aside, he’s at least coached NBA players) and not be just the latest in line at some factory like UNC, it sounds like he made a good choice. I’m not saying it was the normal route, and I’m definitely not predicting it’ll come off without a hitch. But I think it’s kind of refreshing. Crazy, but refreshing.

  • Ryan Jones Posted: Mar.22 at 9:46 am
    bja is right, is my point.

  • H to the izzo Posted: Mar.22 at 12:35 pm
    Instead of having the new nike sponsored boot camps in the summer they should sit them all in a room and have a little reality check with people screaming,”you’re not that good” at them for about ten hours a day.
    or
    Have current NBA stars come in and school them anything to stop the ego

  • H to the izzo Posted: Mar.22 at 12:37 pm
    And Ryan I think that UNC prefer to called it history not factory line but your probably right and no matter how fucked up the NCAA is(and it is) the NBA is much more flawed

  • topmeoff Posted: Mar.22 at 12:40 pm
    Y is everybody hatin’ on OJ he already better dan u n half da NBA. He raw as hell n he betta dan Eric Gordon & Derrick Rose

  • Tyler Posted: Mar.22 at 12:56 pm
    While I don’t agree with his actions, he’s a kid. Just give him some time to mature. So STOP HATING on one of the next great ones no flops outta this guy.

  • galo Posted: Mar.22 at 2:25 pm
    i’m still waiting for this whole NBA-high school thing to blow wide open when some elite HS player goes lenny cook on all of us and shows that not drafting out of high school is a HUGE mistake.
    If OJ doesnt pull it off, he might end my waiting.

  • Kyle WAtson 35 Posted: Mar.22 at 3:37 pm
    http://thebiglead.com/?p=1990

  • Sebastian Posted: Mar.22 at 5:03 pm
    That’s silly. If USC beats UNC he might be trying to transfer.

  • chauncey Posted: Mar.22 at 5:08 pm
    I personally think what O.J. did is brilliant. He’s a guy who doesn’t just do as he’s told. The whole ritual of recruiting is silly anyway.

  • mutoni Posted: Mar.22 at 5:44 pm
    i definitely give props to oj for what he did, and i wouldn’t be surprised if more guys started doing it his way. but you gotta admit: the boy’s ego is crazy. not that there’s anything wrong with that…

  • j.l. Posted: Mar.22 at 9:43 pm
    wow………..the kids a FOOOL!!!

  • Darryl hodoh Posted: Mar.23 at 11:28 am
    like i said, oj is one of the best. i feel him on wanting to go to usc. he tryin to put them on the map like they are in football.

  • Gnar Gnar Duckets! Posted: Mar.23 at 11:35 am
    I kinda hope this kid fails. Shoving Refs, that incident in his last game & now this? I hope USC loses to some bum mid-major school in the 1st round.

  • Gilbert0 Posted: Mar.23 at 12:00 pm
    I think this highlights what a joke the age limit is. This guys is good enough to get drafted now and has to instead spend a year in college, running the risk of injury and further making a mockery of the college game by waiting out the year. He sounds like a punk but props to him for having the balls to do it.

  • Jokil Posted: Mar.23 at 2:39 pm
    Since when does being an egotistical idiot take balls?

  • doctor j Posted: Mar.23 at 6:12 pm
    STOP HATING ON OJ MAYO. first off, im tired of all muthafcukers who think they know what the fcuk they’re talkin bout cuz bad shhit happened to others like oj. the media has already given the kid a black rep and they dont even know wtf theyre talkin bout. on pti today, tim floyd was on, and he was IRATE at mike and tony for takin shots at mr. mayo. tim seems to have no problem with how the whole thing went down, and max, oj probably recruited better than tim floyd ever has in his life. so when oj takes over the nba in bout six years, ima holla at y’all.

  • doctor j Posted: Mar.23 at 6:15 pm
    and if you think that shove was legit, you could run into a three year old harder than that and the kid wouldnt even feel it.

  • willis Posted: Mar.23 at 11:36 pm
    omg…i cant believe ppl think he actually shoved the ref, if he did do u think sportscenter would put it in there top 10 dives in sports. O.J is the best thing to happen to college ball in a long time. Under Floyd USC will win the championship next year. Guaranteed

  • Justice G Posted: Mar.26 at 3:13 am
    DERRICK ROSE DA TRUTH

  • Gary Posted: Mar.26 at 5:58 pm
    Uhmmm….has anyone ever heard of Ralph Sampson or uhmmm whats the dudes name…..John Sally just cuz ur a boss in high school doesnt mean you’ll be all that in college….but I could be wrong…..Naw Im not

  • juicefan1 Posted: Mar.27 at 3:35 pm
    I hope that everyone posting comments so negative about OJ have met him and really spent some time with him as your comments seem to suggest. OJ Mayo is more than the best high school basketball player in the country but a wonderful kid also. Stop judging people you don’t even know. I believe we only have one judge and Im sure it’s not any of you.

  • ihate kobe Posted: Mar.29 at 12:30 pm
    i just saw this guy at the mcdonald high school game and he disappointed me. He jacked up shots(and missing badly)did not drive and did not get others involved. Just remember I told you first : This guy is going to be a bust.

  • westcoast213 Posted: Mar.29 at 8:22 pm
    3time mr basketball, 5 times allstate in 3 different states…..Why all the hate? He chose his own university he wanted to go to without all the recruiting b.s. That referee took a dive, only a hater who never seen the actual footage would believe that was legit…..The kid aint perfect but neither are any of us….We don’t have to live under the microscope and have the scrutiny this kid has had the last 5 years……Yeah he had a bad mcdonalds game, but that’s all it was, was a bad game in a allstar game at that…..I look forward to seeing him in college next year, people are jealous , just let his story play out…..

  • bigmike407 Posted: Mar.30 at 11:50 am
    When OJ Condiment dives, we will all be there to say ‘I told you so’. Since he is a Black man in America, I automatically want him to make it, because not enough of us do. But to do what he’s doing, act how he’s acting, and you flounder on the national stage (twice, because his Huntington team got thrashed on ESPN about three weeks ago), it ain’t looking good for the boy right now. To go to a college sight unseen is one thing, but to tell a bum-ass coach like Floyd that you’re coming shows your agenda. He’ll be there one yr. and then dudes like Chauncey, JKidd, Arenas, and CP3 are gonna have their way with him, and I’ll buy League Pass to see this arrogant nutball get raped every night.

  • Zach F. Posted: Mar.30 at 8:52 pm
    You guys must be kidding. For one, recruiting players himself was an awesome idea and more people should do it. the “push” was better acting than George Clooney could do. While you come up w/ 2 guys that ended up being busts from high school into the NBA, i could give you 30 that turned out right. i’m a huge Mayo fan and he did have a bad McD AA game but You can’t tell me Singler looked much better. Mayo is a baller and thats a fact. if there was a thought ha would be a bust he wouldn’t be looked at so highly. Beasley had a monster game congrats to him. but Mayo is better than anyone on the high school level right now. (ask Lance Stephenson what happened when he pissed OJ off a couple years ago at ABCD Camp) Mayo went off, Lance felt the wrath of the Dragon. Good Luck to Mayo and every one else in that game. i hope thay have great both college and pro careers. they’ve worked hard for it.

  • jk Posted: Apr.3 at 2:51 pm
    The problem is not with Mayo. He’s a kid. When you treat a kid like a God because he can play basketball he’s going to get distorted. So will the sundry bloodsuckers hanging around. The problem is with pro basketball period. Pro basketball has turned into one big haven for the worst of the worst in humanity. It harbors criminal and thugs and pays them enormous amounts of money. When you pay rapists millions of dollars a year then something’s wrong. In today’s world, being a star athlete buys you a free pass. What do you think happens to a thirteen year old kid when he lives his teenage years knowing he’s going to be a multi millionaire by the time he’s 20? And shame on a system that allows a semi literate punk to attend college to wile away the year in between high school and NBA eligibility. O.J. is a product of our society today. It’s not his fault.

  • jk Posted: Apr.3 at 2:52 pm
    p.s. those comments were about athletes in general. Not specifically Mayo.

  • Zach F. Posted: Apr.3 at 11:59 pm
    ^^^agreed… any news on Pat Patterson??

  • Big Lu Posted: Apr.4 at 11:51 am
    Don’t hate the guy. He has been groomed his whole life for the NBA. he is ready now but has to go to NCAA for a year and show his skills. That wasnt his fault. His and partner from Ciny (Walker)were going to go 1&2 First ever high school to get picked in order untill the rules changed. I hope O.J. Does well in USC and brings the final four to USC. They they will be like Florida and win a footballl and basketball.
    Keep you head up O.J.!

  • j c Posted: Apr.5 at 12:38 am
    This is great for OJ this shows what kind of player he is you cant go any were without confidence and that is obviously what OJ has. This is exactly why OJ Mayo will end up being one of the best players to play the game

  • javed Posted: Apr.30 at 1:00 pm
    O.J. mayonase is a good player……… ………..but not as good As Justin Day and Samardo Samuels

  • pass the oj- Posted: Apr.9 at 9:15 pm
    everyone thinks that oj has an oversized ego, but look at all the other pro players, they are all posers, even the best of them, lebron james, and michael jordon. they are all fed up with themselves. but truthfully, what’s not to like? we all have atleast somewhat of an ego, some more than others, but we don’t admit it. all the players and former players loved to show off, but that isn’t the reason they played the game. oj mayo, and many other players have picked not as high ranked colleges to make them bigger, more populer and help the campus, that dosen’t mean all of them and maybe not mayo. the point is ae is a talented athlete and dosen’t get the respect he deserves, along with many other players. most of these comments are badly written and these people obviously have big egos. get over yourselves…

  • Brandon Jennings Going to Europe « Sports Baron at Social Baron Posted: Jul.17 at 3:39 am
    [...] We were going to post a video of O.J. Mayo hitting a 69 footer on this slowest sports day of the year, but changed our mind. Brandon won’t be walking into Lute Olsen’s office, telling him, he won’t give out his cell phone number. [...]

Comments