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A worthy place to bide some time: if O.J. Mayo truly wants to juice up the NBA, he must learn to conquer challenges

Sporting News, The, August 19, 2005 by Mike DeCourcy

He is so good, he will redefine the initials O.J.

That's how good O.J. Mayo is.

Unless you are among the hopeless addicts who showed up at the Reebok ABCD Camp or the Big Time tournament or the USA Basketball Youth Development Festival--and congratulations, if you are--you probably have not yet seen Mayo play this game. So you read about him and wonder whether he's as good as has been described in print. And he's not. He's better.

Mayo is a 6-4 point guard who will be a junior at North College Hill High in Cincinnati. He has been among the nation's most famous high school players since he was a seventh-grader starring for a Kentucky high school. With his size, strength, athleticism and skills, he almost certainly will be the No. 1 overall pick when he enters the NBA draft.

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But what route will he follow to get there? Mayo has said he will be fine attending college now that the NBA passed a rule mandating draft entrants be at least 19 and one year beyond high school graduation. Mayo will reach that age before finishing high school, but the one-year-out requirement will force him to occupy himself until June 2008.

Mayo could play a year at a prep school. He could work a year with a personal trainer, avoiding formal competition. He could earn excellent money overseas, plus more from a shoe company endorsement. He could sue the NBA, but the suit would face a tough climb given Maurice Clarett's failure in a similar case against the NFL.

Or, Mayo could play in college.

Which is what he needs.

There is so little about the game that Mayo does not do exceptionally well. He changes direction at full speed. He is a spectacular shooter. He gets open with moves others can't conceive. He is a superb, unselfish passer.

The problem is competition. His high school games mostly are a joke; North College Hill won its state tournament games by an average of 29.5 points. His loaded club team, the D1 Greyhounds, only rarely encounter worthy competition.

The Greyhounds did lose to Greg Oden and the Spiece Indy Heat in Las Vegas at the Big Time tournament championship, a game that featured more likely future pros than many Final Four battles. That gave Mayo a dose of what college basketball would be like. But college crowds would be larger, the pressure greater, the opposition more sophisticated. Opponents have time to scout you in college. For Mayo to become the best player he can be, he needs that. He already has conquered the overmatched and unprepared. Many, many times.

There is a common belief among college coaches that Mayo will avoid the risk of injury or exposure in college and choose prep school. That would provide no benefit; by the time he finishes his senior year at North College Hill, he will have played against high school kids for six years. Insurance could protect him against a college injury that would end his career or damage his draft position.

And exposure? Not a chance. He's too good.

He is so good, in fact, that some day the initials O.J. will not be an easy punch line on late-night television or morning drive radio. They once again will be spoken with a sense of wonder and awe.

speed read

The organization behind the NIT began its lawsuit against the NCAA last week. Its case suggests the NCAA Tournament represents an illegal monopoly and some NCAA Tournament teams would, if given the choice, play in the NIT. That's like saying there are those who would prefer ALPO to a New York strip. Even a basset hound knows better.

INSIDE DISH

New Southern California coach Tim Floyd isn't worried that being at a "football school" will hinder the building of his program. He points to success at Texas and Florida as the model of what can be accomplished if basketball takes advantage of what football provides. Floyd is selling opportunity to recruits. The Trojans have only four players returning and did OK in salvaging the 2005 recruiting year, but none of their recruits will scare away future prospects. > Denver C Yemi Nicholson is catching the attention of NBA scouts. One who saw him at a summer camp says Nicholson has few bad habits. He went from averaging 7.5 points as a sophomore to 18.1 points as a junior. Nicholson should keep Denver in contention for the Sun Belt title and an NCAA Tournament bid. > Fran Fraschilla, who coached the African entry in last month's Global Games, was impressed with 6-8 PF Ahmet Gueye of Senegal, a Hawaii recruit who represented Team Texas and made the all-tournament squad. Fraschilla says Gueye is "a man." > Baylor recruit Henry Dugat was among the Global Games' pleasant surprises. He can play either backcourt position, is a fine shooter and should become a strong defender. PF Kevin Rogers, another' Bears recruit, also had his moments. Baylor's next major recruiting project will be competing against elite programs for PF Darrell Arthur, a top 10 prospect from Dallas. > Evansville coach Steve Merfeld would like to take his team to England--and play no games. Merfeld says about a third of the school's students study at the university's overseas campus in Grantham, England. Basketball players can't get there during the regular academic year, so Merfeld would like to take them next summer just for study and travel.

A worthy place to bide some time: if O.J. Mayo truly wants to juice up the NBA, he must learn to conquer challenges

Sporting News, The, August 19, 2005 by Mike DeCourcy

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