O.J. Mayo Reportedly Commited to Southern Cal

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting J_Ray:</div><div class="quote_post">I think he's doing this because he knows he's going to be #1 pick no matter what. This way the spotlight isn't on him, so when he does have a bad game, it's not all over the news like it would be if he went to the east coast. Most Pac-10 games aren't even on Sportscenter or ESPNEWS during the highlights, so when he does have that horrible game, people will be sleeping on the east coast. There is one bright spot to this if he does commit to USC.......I get to watch him every single game This also might start a movement of power back to the Pac-10. If you're in the middle of your recruiting, wouldn't you rather play against O.J. Mayo to try and increase your stock, or go play against UConn? This could be a huge recruiting chip for the Pac-10 teams for at least 1 year. The one bad thing about this is that he could possibly start slipping from the #1 spot in draft, if USC doesn't improve when he's here, and his lack of publicity might hurt him. What if some other frosh goes crazy at another college, like someone that goes to Texas or UConn, someone that's on ESPN every week. In the upcoming years, I think the Pac-10 will start catching up to the ACC, Big East, and Big-12. Pac-10 is overlooked because they don't get exposure like everyone else. Look at last year's tourney, Pac-10's 4 tourney teams all did good, Cal got robbed by Refs....just ask Shape, Zona hit a bump playing pretty much @ Nova's home court, UW just barely lost to UConn, and UCLA lost in the championship. Last thing that Mayo might like is he'll be in the middle of LA, why would you want to go to Manhattan, Kansas when you can go party in LA </div>

I hear he'd prefer Gainesville, FL's nightlife over LA.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting GatorsowntheNCAA:</div><div class="quote_post">I hear he'd prefer Gainesville, FL's nightlife over LA. </div>


I'm sure he'd rather hang out with you Too bad he wants to play some real competition

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">I agree, and would also like to add. No matter where OJ Mayo decides to play, the TV deals are going to be finalized to make sure he gets national exposure. The LA market is the 2nd largest revenue generator, and there's plenty of coverage available for Mayo to get the national spotlight.

Just look at all the TV exposure the USC Trojans football team received the past couple of years after winning the Rose Bowl.</div>


Pac-10 doesn't get any kind of exposure, they have more WCC and MWC games on ESPN than Pac-10. I think it's sort of ridiculous, but didn't the Pac-10 sign a contract with ESPN lately? Or is that only for football

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting J_Ray:</div><div class="quote_post">Pac-10 doesn't get any kind of exposure, they have more WCC and MWC games on ESPN than Pac-10. I think it's sort of ridiculous, but didn't the Pac-10 sign a contract with ESPN lately? Or is that only for football </div>

Exposure shouldn't even consider crossing OJ Mayo's mind when making his decision. He will get national coverage, there's no doubt about that. He has been one of, if not the most hyped high school prospect since LeBron James hit our radars. Mayo's name already in the NBA fan's head as like LeBron James was. It doesn't matter if he decides to play in Europe or in LA, he will get televised games, and LA is a big area in itself...

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting C.K.:</div><div class="quote_post">Exposure shouldn't even consider crossing OJ Mayo's mind when making his decision. He will get national coverage, there's no doubt about that. He has been one of, if not the most hyped high school prospect since LeBron James hit our radars. Mayo's name already in the NBA fan's head as like LeBron James was. It doesn't matter if he decides to play in Europe or in LA, he will get televised games, and LA is a big area in itself...</div>

Well, he'll definetly get west coast exposure, but when Pac-10 play comes around, will the East coast stay up till 10 for tip-off of their game? Sure, during the beginning of the season, or even on ABC an occasional Saturday, he'll get 2-4 games televised, but most Pac-10 games you have to have Fullcourt pass or have a west coast Foxsports channel to watch the games. CK, how many Pac-10 games did you get to see last year, confrence play ones? I remember I had to give you a play by play on the Zona-UW game on New Years because you didn't get it on your foxsports. USC only had 1 game on ESPN last year, it was against Oral Roberts in the Alaskian Shootout......they lost by 20. ESPN is on the East Coast, they don't care about USC and 1 guy, they'll find someone else to hype, probably someone on Duke, perhaps a Kevin Love if he does good, or someone else. What if McRoberts stays in college 1 more year after this year, he could turn into the #1 pick. Mayo just won't get the hype he's getting right now, 1 year of watching someone else might make some forget about Mayo. I'm not saying he isn't worth the #1 pick, I'm just saying he won't be hyped like some others will be. Mayo would be a 1 man team pretty much at USC, that's if Last of the Mohicans or Pruitt don't go pro. He's not enough to get 1 team to the tourney, but if they get Bill Walker that could be different story.

 

Does anyone think that he could play SG? If he can play SG then I wouldn't mind adding him. The Gators just signed Alex Tyus, a SF/PF on Mayo's AAU team, so that could be beneficial to us getting Mayo.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting GatorsowntheNCAA:</div><div class="quote_post">Does anyone think that he could play SG? If he can play SG then I wouldn't mind adding him. The Gators just signed Alex Tyus, a SF/PF on Mayo's AAU team, so that could be beneficial to us getting Mayo.</div>

At this stage in his career, Mayo is actually more of a shooting guard than a point guard. At least, he's more of a scorer than a distributer, and I can definitely see him as a two guard on the collegiate level for that reason. However, I'm sure Mayo will wind up being more of a scoring point wherever he winds up, because at his size it'd kill his stock to be anything else.

As for Alex Tyus, you got a huge steal there even if he doesn't bring Mayo with him. He's been one of my favorites in the class ever since I saw him play AAU ball up in Saint Louis a long time ago, way back when he was off the national radar and before he moved out of the city. I've read that he's since been trying to take his game out on the perimeter, working on his jumper and his ball handling, but he'd still be a dominant force at the four despite being just 6'7". When you watch him play, you'll see what I mean; he's incredibly long, very athletic, and just plays a real scrappy style of ball, so of those attributes make up for his lack of height to an extent. I can definitely see him being the next Hakim Warrick on the collegiate level.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">I agree, and would also like to add. No matter where OJ Mayo decides to play, the TV deals are going to be finalized to make sure he gets national exposure. The LA market is the 2nd largest revenue generator, and there's plenty of coverage available for Mayo to get the national spotlight.

Just look at all the TV exposure the USC Trojans football team received the past couple of years after winning the Rose Bowl.</div>
Of course NY is #1.

But is OJ Mayo really the truth? I haven't seen too much of him, but can someone break down his potential to me?

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting J_Ray:</div><div class="quote_post">Well, he'll definetly get west coast exposure, but when Pac-10 play comes around, will the East coast stay up till 10 for tip-off of their game? Sure, during the beginning of the season, or even on ABC an occasional Saturday, he'll get 2-4 games televised, but most Pac-10 games you have to have Fullcourt pass or have a west coast Foxsports channel to watch the games. CK, how many Pac-10 games did you get to see last year, confrence play ones? I remember I had to give you a play by play on the Zona-UW game on New Years because you didn't get it on your foxsports. USC only had 1 game on ESPN last year, it was against Oral Roberts in the Alaskian Shootout......they lost by 20. ESPN is on the East Coast, they don't care about USC and 1 guy, they'll find someone else to hype, probably someone on Duke, perhaps a Kevin Love if he does good, or someone else. What if McRoberts stays in college 1 more year after this year, he could turn into the #1 pick. Mayo just won't get the hype he's getting right now, 1 year of watching someone else might make some forget about Mayo. I'm not saying he isn't worth the #1 pick, I'm just saying he won't be hyped like some others will be. Mayo would be a 1 man team pretty much at USC, that's if Last of the Mohicans or Pruitt don't go pro. He's not enough to get 1 team to the tourney, but if they get Bill Walker that could be different story.</div>

Maybe the common fan won't stay up to watch him but do you think shoe companies and NBA GM's and scouts will? Of course. If they are about to make a multimillion dollar investment in a player then they'll burn the midnight oil to watch this kid play. Even if they don't, I'm sure they'll get tapes of all of his games so they can watch it the next day. The bottom line is, Mayo won't be covering anything up by playing in Southern Cal.