Next in Line: OJ Mayo
Words Tewauna Shante
LA Times: Along the way, he has developed a cure for homesickness.
"I've got a basketball and a 10-foot goal," Mayo said. "I've known that family since I was 10 years old."
It seems the 19-year-old is off to a successful start in his attempt to distance himself from a turbulent senior year of high school in which he was suspended for three games after making contact with a referee and cited for misdemeanor marijuana possession, a charge that was later dismissed.
"I had some incidents last season, and that really wasn't me. Maybe some things got blown out of proportion a little bit, but you've got to deal with it. I just wanted to come out here and show people that I'm a student-athlete, and I just want an opportunity to take care of my family one day."
The 6-foot-5, 200-pound guard has also displayed his considerable skills in pickup games throughout the Southland against an impressive array of NBA players, including
"It was just going and getting beat up on a little bit," Mayo said, "just to learn the bumps and bruises and get better as a player."
"I tried my best," he said, flashing a wide smile. "A lot of people said they liked what they saw and said just continue working hard with the opportunity to be a special player in the league. That's just my dream, to be a dominant player in the league and hopefully lead a team to the NBA title.
"Right now I'm just focusing on USC basketball and our team, making sure we're getting better as a team and trying to make a run for the Pac-10 title and the national title.”
McDonald's All-American who averaged 28.2 points, 7.2 assists and 6.1 rebounds while leading Huntington (
WSAZ.com: Mayo was selected by the
Before starting at
Mayo led the state in scoring this season at 28.4 points per game.
For the top-seeded Highlanders, O-J Mayo had 41 points, ten rebounds and eleven assists as the Highlanders earned an unprecedented third straight Triple-A title.
USC Trojans sports page usctrojans.cstv.com: Dwight Lewis was battling a sinus infection and did not make the trip. Also, Daniel Hackett was given the trip off to rest up and get back into the swing of things as he spent the entire summer playing basketball for the Italian national team and just flew back in time for the USC practice sessions. With neither of the returning part-time starting guards from last season making the trip, coach Floyd will get a chance to get a longer look at some of the new guards such as O.J. Mayo and Marcus Simmons, as well as 2006-07 members Ryan Wetherell, Kyle Austin and Terence Green.
No casualties at dinner and onto the bus they went for the alleged two-hour ride. Nearly three hours later we arrived at
The first scheduled game was against a semi-pro team called the Caballeros de Culiacan, which had four American players. The Caballeros shot the lights out in the first half and Tim Floyd's young squad went to the locker room trailing 59-52. The game used FIBA rules which meant a 24-second shot clock and four 10-minute quarters.
After a short reprimand about desire on the defensive end, the Trojans came out and took control, outscoring
The college team from Sinaloa did not show up for the second game, but the Caballeros said they would play the Trojans twice. After a tough game that didn't conclude until after 10 p.m., they thought better of it and the teams called it a night. Two other memorable moments from the night in
USC's next hurdle was waiting an hour for the post game pizzas to arrive before the long ride back to El Cid. The ride was a little faster going back, but not without one more surprise. All of the sudden the bus driver pulled over and ran to a "quickie mart" to get a cup of coffee, startling all the sleepy travelers.
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