O. J. Mayo

Ovinton J'Anthony "O. J." Mayo, (born November 5, 1987 in Huntington, West Virginia), is an American basketball player who currently plays for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association. He signed with the team on July 8, 2008. He played college basketball for the University of Southern California (USC). As an athlete at Huntington High School, he was considered by several media outlets to be the best high school basketball player in the United States.

He chose to enter the 2008 NBA Draft instead of completing his three remaining years of college eligibility; when he chose Bill Duffy and Associates as his agency, he lost his NCAA eligibility. He was taken third overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves on June 26, 2008. Following the draft, Minnesota traded him and three other players to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Kevin Love and three players.

Mayo was a part of the 2008 U.S. Select Team to help get the Olympic Team ready for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Early years

O. J. Mayo was born when his mother, Alisha Mayo, was 17 years old. His father, Kenny Ziegler, played basketball for Huntington High School and won a state title with the team.

The first public mention of Mayo occurred in the Ashland (KY) Daily Independent in an article called 'Phenom' in the paper's January 21, 2001 edition, when Mayo was 13. In that article he was listed as being a "6-foot-1½ point guard with size 12 shoe".

Mayo commuted from Huntington to Rose Hill Christian High School, a private school in Ashland, Kentucky, since student athletes in Kentucky can play high school varsity sports as seventh-graders. In the seventh grade, playing against high school juniors and seniors, his statistics often dwarfed the production of players five years his senior. In his first game for his varsity team he scored 27 points, had seven rebounds, and three steals.

During his seventh grade year in January 2002, Mayo was mentioned in Sports Illustrated and on CBS Sportsline.com. There were also full articles in The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky), the Huntington, West Virginia Herald-Dispatch and USA Today.

After the completion of the basketball season during his eighth grade year, he moved to Cincinnati with Dwaine Barnes, a longtime family friend whom Mayo has often called his grandfather, in order to attend North College Hill High School near Cincinnati, where he was joined by his long time friend Bill Walker. Together, they won back-to-back Division III Ohio state basketball titles.

High school

In 2006, the 6-foot-5, 200-pound, 18-year-old junior guard was selected as Mr. Basketball of Ohio for the second consecutive season, in addition to being named Associated Press Division III Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. He averaged nearly 29 points, nine rebounds, and six assists per game. He also led his team to three consecutive AP poll titles and garnered much attention from the media, appearing in the pages of Sports Illustrated among other publications. Much like another high school star from Ohio (St. Vincent-St. Mary High School), LeBron James, Mayo drew large enough crowds to force his team into seeking larger venues to support the growing crowds, and often attracted National Basketball Association stars such as James and Carmelo Anthony to watch his games playing for the D-1 Greyhounds.

In February 2006, Mayo attracted the largest crowd to ever see a high school game in Cincinnati, Ohio. 16,500 fans watched North College Hill fall to the nation's number one rated team, Oak Hill Academy. Mayo had been considered a lock to make the leap straight from high school to the NBA, but the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NBA and its players instituted a rule that a player must be at least a year out of high school before he can enter the NBA, effectively curtailing those plans. On July 5, 2006, it was reported by ESPN that he would attend USC. On July 8, however, WSAZ-TV reported that USC was only one of three colleges that Mayo was considering: the other two being Kansas State University and the University of Florida.

On August 27, 2006, WSAZ-TV reported that Mayo enrolled at Huntington High School in Huntington, West Virginia for the 2006-07 school year. He formally committed to USC in November 2006.

In January 2007, Mayo allegedly assaulted referee Mike Lazo after being ejected from a Huntington High game vs. Capital High School at the Charleston Civic Center. According to West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission rules, Mayo was suspended for two games. However, due to allegations supported by video evidence that Lazo had overreacted and faked the incident, a temporary restraining order was signed by Cabell County Circuit Court Judge Dan O'Hanlan, temporarily lifting the suspensions on Mayo and five other players suspended due to incidents at that game. However, shortly after, the restraining order was nullified and Mayo was suspended for three games, a punishment that Mayo described as "fair.

On March 9, 2007, Mayo and three other men were cited by the Cabell County Sheriff's Dept. for misdemeanor simple possession of marijuana. Officers found the cannabis in a car in which Mayo was a passenger and, since no one claimed possession, all occupants were ticketed. Charges against Mayo were dropped on March 12, 2007 after one of the other passengers in the vehicle took responsibility for the marijuana.

Mayo was selected by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association as the 2007 recipient of Bill Evans Award for the state's boys basketball player of the year. Mayo led the state in scoring for the 2006-2007 season at 28.4 points per game. Runner-up in the voting was teammate Patrick Patterson.

On March 17, 2007, Mayo led Huntington High School to its third consecutive Class AAA basketball championship in the state of West Virginia with 103-61 rout of South Charleston. Mayo finished with a triple-double: 41 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists. In his final moments with a minute left in the game, Mayo threw the ball off the backboard from the free-throw line, caught it in midair, and dunked. He then threw the ball deep into the stands and held up three fingers, a reference to Huntington High's three-straight basketball state championships.

He graduated in May 2007 and signed a letter of intent to enroll at USC. He scored an impressive 29 on the ACT, placing him in the 95th percentile nationally

College

Mayo enrolled at the University of Southern California in Summer 2007, taking two classes. While waiting for the season to begin, he began playing pickup basketball against current NBA players Kobe Bryant, Sam Cassell, Kevin Garnett, Mike Dunleavy, Jr., Jason Kidd, Adam Morrison, J. J. Redick.

Mayo began his freshman season in the 96–81 loss to Mercer with 32 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. In the following 74–47 victory over The Citadel, Mayo recorded 16 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. In the 85–75 victory over South Carolina, he posted 29 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. In the 92–82 loss to California, Mayo recorded a then-high 34 points. In the 73–58 loss to Washington State, he posted 22 points and 7 rebounds. In the 95–86 win over Oregon, Mayo recorded 25 points and 8 rebounds, then followed that up with 23 points against Arizona and 20 points against Arizona State. He then had 29 points in the 73–59 win over Washington. In the 81–75 win over Oregon, Mayo recorded 32 points, then had 21 points in the following victory over Oregon State. In the 80–66 loss to Arizona, Mayo posted a career-high 37 points. In the 2008 Pacific-10 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, the Trojans lost to UCLA, featuring Kevin Love, in the semi-finals. Both Mayo and Love were selected to the All Pac-10 tournament team. In his NCAA Tournament debut with the Trojans, Mayo scored 20 points as USC was beaten by Kansas State and freshman Michael Beasley.

Mayo did not return for his sophomore season, opting to enter the 2008 NBA Draft.

Agent hiring controversy

On May 11, 2008, ESPN.com reported that a former "confidant" Lewis Johnson revealed on ESPN's TV show Outside the Lines that Mayo received numerous gifts in violation to NCAA rules. The report states that Mayo received the gifts from Rodney Guillory before and during his tenure at USC. Guillory is said to have received the money from the Bill Duffy Associates Sports Management (BDA).

On May 22, 2008, Mayo cut ties with BDA. He then hired Leon Rose to be his agent. Rose is the agent for LeBron James, Allen Iverson, Andrea Bargnani, Richard Hamilton, and many other NBA players.

NBA

On June 26, 2008, OJ Mayo was selected 3rd overall in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Later that day, he was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, along with Marko Jaric, Antoine Walker, and Greg Buckner, swapping them for the 5th overall pick Kevin Love, Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal, and Jason Collins. In his NBA Summer League debut, Mayo had 15 points to lead the Grizzlies to a 88-75 win over the New Orleans Hornets.

References

External links

• USC Player Bio: O. J. Mayo