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

[methomps]

Originally Posted by Oh8ch

IMO this one is crystal clear. Mayo was literally coated with red flags - regardless of what any pre-enrollment investigations found. The school that took him was willing to take big risks for what he might contribute. He is the poster child for kids schools need to say no to - and USC didn't.

Granted, he is not alone and any superb athlete presents an agent risk. But Mayo was a poster child. If you want to have any hope of cleaning this up you have to make the schools pay so they back away from those risks. It is the only way....

.....the only way to keep exploiting amateur athletes while the schools make millions... but that is for another thread.

Many around the country would consider Pryor to be coated with red flags: the various bball game and amusement park altercations, that Sarniak character from Jeannette, the picture of Pryor in the white suit leaning on the Corvette, and his shiny watch and earrings on signing day (which got very little play here). So should OSU be treated as having taken a risk should something unfortunate happen?

[NFBuck]

Originally Posted by methomps

Many around the country would consider Pryor to be coated with red flags: the various bball game and amusement park altercations, that Sarniak character from Jeannette, the picture of Pryor in the white suit leaning on the Corvette, and his shiny watch and earrings on signing day (which got very little play here). So should OSU be treated as having taken a risk should something unfortunate happen?

Seriously? O.J. Mayo and Terrelle Pryor's track record going into college are not even close. Sorry.

[methomps]

Originally Posted by NFBuck

Seriously? O.J. Mayo and Terrelle Pryor's track record going into college are not even close. Sorry.

There are enough things that looking back in hindsight after something happens would have a lot of people saying the same things they are now about Mayo. That is how hindsight works. They would point to his signing day bling and the picture of him posing in the suit in front of the car. They'd point to all the articles about Sarniak and Jeannette and basketball fights.

[HailToMichigan]

Originally Posted by NFBuck

Seriously? O.J. Mayo and Terrelle Pryor's track record going into college are not even close. Sorry.

True....

So should OSU be treated as having taken a risk should something unfortunate happen?

...But yes.

Whether or not Pryor is "as bad" as Mayo is irrelevant except for the severity of the penalties, should any occur.

And yes, I'm aware I'd have been giddy as a schoolgirl over getting Pryor just as you guys were, and worried about the risks later. But surely, a coach like Jim Tressel will be keeping an eye on things when his highest profile recruit probably ever is well-known to have such connections, right? I would hope every coach would.

[ysubuck]

Originally Posted by methomps

There are enough things that looking back in hindsight after something happens would have a lot of people saying the same things they are now about Mayo. That is how hindsight works. They would point to his signing day bling and the picture of him posing in the suit in front of the car. They'd point to all the articles about Sarniak and Jeannette and basketball fights.

I guess I'm missing your point.

It has pretty much been established that Bush was on the take from a would be agent while tearing up the playing fields of So Cal and now Mayo is apparently guilty of the same thing. Both players took THOUSANDS of dollars while at USC and nobody seemed to notice. Why play the "what if" game regarding Terrelle Pryor? What does Terrelle Pryor have to do with Bush and Mayo taking money while playing for Southern Cal?

Don't bring TP into the discussion because you're upset that Southern Cal players can't seem to steer clear of NCAA violations.

[Oh8ch]

Many around the country would consider Pryor to be coated with red flags: the various bball game and amusement park altercations, that Sarniak character from Jeannette, the picture of Pryor in the white suit leaning on the Corvette, and his shiny watch and earrings on signing day (which got very little play here). So should OSU be treated as having taken a risk should something unfortunate happen?

I wont address my response to Pryor because there is nothing to merit such speculation in regards to one individual. But yes - when you land kids like Oden, Beanie, Pryor, etc. you have issues that Alcorn State doesn't. The wolves are always circling these kids and you need to be peeking in their dorm rooms. You need to be wary rather than welcoming of agents and their relationships.

But Mayo was at a different level. I go back to the post I wrote last July (reposted as #563 in this thread). The kid went to HS just down the pike from Cbus. I have seen him play in HS and I have followed his exploits on and off the court since he was in 8th grade. This was not likely to turn out any other way.

And I have called JT out on the same issue. MoC was a comparable case, except what was known about him was more closely held. But in retrospect he was a ticking time bomb. I question how JT handled the kid given what he should have known - but not how he handled the situation once problems arose. And OSU was positively ravaged by ESPN in a case where far less was ever established than has been suggested in regards to Bush, Jarrett or Mayo.