PG/SG O.J. Mayo (Official Thread)

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

A better question is who is paying for all these trips to California.....

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Foxsports.com

8/14/06

Mayo reportedly still plans to go to USC

It's long been rumored that prep basketball star O.J. Mayo was headed to USC. And more than one report had Mayo making that rumor official on Sunday. But that announcement was put on hold again.


Mayo has called off what was scheduled to be an afternoon newsconference to announce his plans to attend USC. Fox Sports Radio host Ben Maller is reporting that sources close to the situation say he has still commited to playing for the Trojans. NCAA rules don't allow the school to set up a newsconference.

Mayo, who has been widely acknowledged as the top prospect in the Class of 2007, was on the USC campus Saturday on an unofficial visit. During that visit, he stopped by the Trojans football practice, where he was serenaded by chants of "O.J.! O.J.!"

Link

8/14/06

Hold the Mayo: No commitment to USC yet
<!--subtitle--><!--top author info--><TABLE width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=articleByline><!-- overline-->BY SCOTT WOLF, Staff Writer</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
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O.J. Mayo, considered the No.1-ranked high school basketball in the nation, abruptly canceled a news conference to announce he would attend USC on Sunday.

Mayo and his advisors let it be known Saturday night that he and 6-foot-9 center Aaron Pogue would announce they would attend USC the following day at a Marina del Rey hotel. However, less than two hours before the news conference, it was canceled.

A high school source close to Mayo said the planned news conference by Mayo was a "misunderstanding." The same source said Mayo went back-and-forth several times Saturday before deciding to announce he would go to USC. "He's all about making a statement," the source said.
Mayo has told USC athletes since July that he would become a Trojan, but getting him to officially commit is another matter.


This is the second time Mayo canceled his announcement to commit to USC. He originally told friends he would announce he was attending USC during a summer basketball camp last month in New Jersey, but then changed his mind.

One possible scenario is that Mayo will not announce until he passes his college entrance examination scheduled for the fall. Pogue, who continued his campus visit Sunday, is not expected to come to USC without Mayo.
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[osugrad21]

Link

Mayo inquired about transfer back home
BY TRAVIS HUBBARD | GANNETT NEWS SERVICE
<!--ARTICLE BODY TEXT--> SOUTH POINT, Ohio - O.J. Mayo, one of the nation's best high school basketball seniors, at least inquired about a possible transfer out of North College Hill but will remain at NCH, according to South Point High School's athletic director.
"I'd say he'll be back at North College Hill again," said Jan Keatley, the Pointers' athletic director. "That's what I was told today by one of his family members."
Keatley confirmed rumors this week that Mayo was thinking about transferring to South Point after fellow Huntington native and NCH teammate Bill Walker was denied his final appeal by the Ohio High School Athletic Association Wednesday and declared ineligible. She said Mayo contacted the school, but his family decided he should stay at North College Hill.
<script **********"**********"> OAS_AD('ArticleFlex_1');</script>"I think it was wishful thinking on his mother's part," Keatley said of Mayo transfering. "I'm sure it would have been nice for Ms. Mayo to have all of her kids in one school."
Mayo's mother, Alisha, and siblings live in South Point.
Mayo's younger sister, T'Ann, is a junior and plays basketball and runs track at South Point, and brother Todd will be a freshman on the Pointers' basketball team.
South Point coach Gary Norris on Wednesday wouldn't comment on the possibility of O.J. Mayo joining the Pointers except to say he had heard the same rumors.
Keatley said both younger Mayo children are excellent athletes and often are overshadowed by their older brother, who has been in the media spotlight since he was in middle school.
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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Link

8/18/06

South Points' Keatley puts Mayo rumors to rest
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=780 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=455><!-- ARTICLE BODY TEXT --><!--ARTICLE BODY TEXT-->By Travis Hubbard
The Herald-Dispatch


SOUTH POINT, Ohio -- O.J. Mayo at least inquired about a possible transfer back to the Tri-State, but the nation's top-ranked high school basketball senior will remain at Cincinnati's North College Hill according to South Point High School's athletic director.

"I'd say he'll be back at North College Hill again," said Jan Keatley, the Pointers athletic director. "That's what I was told today by one of his family members.

It would have been great for all his family and friends who rarely get to see him or have to travel to see him play, but it just wasn't meant to be."

Keatley confirmed swirling rumors this week that Mayo was thinking about transferring to South Point after fellow Huntington native and NCH teammate Bill Walker was denied his final appeal by the Ohio High School Athletic Association on Wednesday and declared ineligible. She said Mayo contacted the school, but his family ultimately decided he should stay at North College Hill.

"I think it was wishful thinking on his mother's part," Keatley said.

"I'm sure it would have been nice for Ms. Mayo to have all of her kids in one school."

Mayo's younger sister, T'Ann, is a junior and plays basketball and runs track at South Point. Todd Mayo is a younger brother and will be a freshman on the Pointers basketball team.

South Point coach Gary Norris said Wednesday that he expects Todd Mayo to play immediately as a freshman this season. But he wouldn't comment on the possibility of O.J. Mayo joining the Pointers except to say that he had heard the same rumors.

"(Todd) is just a ninth-grader, but he's very skilled and will likely move up," Norris said. "Todd is an individual and I don't know if it's fair to do that (compare him to O.J.). He needs to grow up and develop his own identity."

Keatley said both younger Mayo kids are excellent athletes and often are overshadowed by their older brother who has been in the media spotlight since he was a middle schooler.

O.J. Mayo was originally from Huntington, but his mother, Alisha, and his brother and sister live in South Point. He played basketball at the Huntington YMCA and at Cammack Middle School before transferring to Rose Hill Christian Academy in Ashland as a seventh-grader so that he could play varsity basketball in Kentucky, which allows middle schoolers to play at the varsity level. He played two years at Rose Hill and transferred with Walker to North College Hill in the spring of 2003.

But Walker was declared by the OHSAA to have been a freshman when he transferred, thus exhausting his eligibility because he played his freshman season at Rose Hill.

That sparked rumors that Mayo might leave Cincinnati and return home to live with his family and play with his brother for his senior year. And Keatley said there was some truth to the rumors, but that they did not ultimately come to fruition.

"We have some really good kids and it's time to get to the business of taking care of the kids we have," Keatley said.

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[MiamiRedHawks]

Report from WSAZ in Huntington says Mayo will transfer back to Huntington HS from NCH.

[HabaneroBuck]

Would make sense. He'd be back home for his last year, and the team would still be nationally ranked, with Mayo and PF Patterson. Don't know if they would still have time to schedule a national-power type of schedule, but the team would be considered one of the best regardless.