Where USC and Tim Floyd fall in this whole O.J. Mayo debacle

May 13th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanR

After I sifted through all the damning evidence against O.J. Mayo and Rodney Guillory — and there is a lot of damning evidence — I wasn’t quite sure why USC and Tim Floyd should take the fall here. Sure, it’s against NCAA rules for one of its amateur athletes to accept cash and gifts and what have you, but what if Tim Floyd had no clue any of this was going on? (Naive of me, I know.)

But still, it’s somewhat probable Floyd didn’t know about it. And even if he had some inclination and he turned his back a bit to it, I still don’t see why it’s all on them. (It’s more on the one and done rule than anything else.)

But Jerry Brewer in today’s Seattle Times has turned me around on my faulty logic. To wit:

Coach Tim Floyd didn’t recruit the basketball prodigy; Mayo recruited him. Floyd wasn’t allowed to call the kid; Mayo called him. It was an odd, shady alliance, but for victories and recognition, Floyd went along with this dangerous game.

[ … ]

Floyd ignored both logic and evidence, however. The most-hyped player of the 2007 class wanted to come to USC. That’s all Floyd cared to know. With the integrity of his program at stake, he closed his eyes and welcomed Mayo. The entire university enabled Floyd’s recklessness, too.

Why didn’t anyone at USC say no? Plenty of other schools did. After the NBA age limit became official, I remember talking to two prominent college coaches about whether they would recruit Mayo. At the time, he was considered a package deal with his high school teammate, Bill Walker, who wound up going to Kansas State. Get those two, and you’re a legit Final Four threat. So I floated the idea to the coaches.

“It’s not even a consideration,” one coach said.

“You don’t even understand how many problems that could cause,” the other said.

Back then, there was much fear about Mayo’s large circle of friends. There were whispers that he had already been bought, a common rumor about prep basketball stars. There was even speculation that he would skip college and play in the NBA developmental league for a year or play overseas or create some kind of shoe-sponsored traveling team.

I figured Mayo would never play an NCAA game. I figured I had a better chance of dunking on Dwight Howard.

Then he committed to USC. He became academically eligible with relative ease. And finally, when last season began, he was playing for the Trojans.

So basically:  Floyd’s eyes got big even with red flags all around, knew he was getting himself into a heap of trouble potentially, but did it anyways. Can’t say I blame the guy for having a star fall into his lap so easily and complying, but damn, talk about your all-time backfires.

Michael Beasley rolls with 4 cell phones

March 11th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanR

It’s that time of year again when every top college recruit in the country says they’re staying (see: O.J. Mayo)  or claims they don’t know what they’re doing yet (see: Michael Beasley). We love college! We’re staying! (Yes, sure you do, Greg Oden and Kevin Durant.) Beasley, numbers wise at a staggering 26 and 12 per, is the top freshman in the land and the Washington Times (via TBL) ran one of those, “everyone is asking me if I’m going pro” profiles today. Tucked at the beginning of the piece is this little bit of info as he was prepping for a “Best Damn Sports Show” appearance:

A minor problem could turn into a major malfunction if college basketball’s best freshman can’t hear the questions from a panel that includes former NBA point guard Gary Payton.

As technicians work to fix the audio, the familiar cell phone buzz emanates from the right pocket of Beasley’s black Adidas pants.

“All cell phones off please,” the camerawoman says.

Out of Beasley’s pockets come four devices: an iPhone, a T-Mobile Sidekick, a Verizon LG phone and a Sprint BlackBerry. The static disappears, and he conducts the interview.

Oh come on now, of course those aren’t all his. He was holding them for a friend. And even if they were all his — all top of the line cell phones, might I add — of course he’s paying for them all. This is college basketball, after all. Nothing to see here. Move along.