OJ Mayo

In case you haven't turned on a television in the last two days, let me explain before I go on this.  O.J. Mayo, USC's Guard that announced earlier this year that he would be going pro, was reportedly getting kick-backs.  Since the seventh grade, Mayo has been sought after since those days, and Rodney Guillory was there from day one.  BDA Sports Management apparently put Guillory in charge to lure O.J. Mayo towards their agency when he eventually went pro.  That involved Flat-Panel TVs, clothing, cash and more; ammounting upwards to $100,000.  The question here is who to blame.  USC?  O.J. Mayo?  Guillory?  Well let me be the first to point the finger at the NCAA.  Now it may be a marginal blame, because I do think that all parties involved were wrong in doing what they did.  Whether it was to give, accept or turn the other cheek. 

The NBA, along with the NCAA came to the agreement to make a pro-prospect, or any college basketball player attend a minimum of one year in college.  So, no more high school stars being drafted(See LeBron James, Kwame Brown, etc.)  This is where the NCAA, and the NBA can benefit.  The NBA draft is two rounds, and would likely need an expansion for this to work, maybe three rounds?  Allow high schoolers to be drafted, IF they enter the draft of course.  Make it so high schoolers can ONLY be drafted to play in the NBA Developmental League for the first two/three years in their career.  Meanwhile learning the game, getting better, and taking classes within the league to learn things like Money Management.  This would boost the D-League's ticket sales tremendously.  Now for the NCAA, they extend that if a player signs to a college, he must stay a minimum of three years before being able to declare for the draft.  What this does is make the turnaround a little bit longer in college, actually forces these kids to learn something instead of barely getting by for a year and declaring like they have in the past.  There's no doubt in my mind that guys like Mayo, when signing with USC, knew that unless an injury stopped them, they're declaring the next year.  Students, and tremendous athletes like Mayo have a chance to further their education, learn the game, and also add to the March Madness factor down the road.  How would you like to have seen a Kobe vs. Carmelo Final Four game?  Exactly.  Either way, something needs to change, and I sure hope that the USC basketball program gets punished in such a way that will make any kids or programs cautious with their future.  If a system like this is implemented, then you have teams making a decision.  Picking the best college player, a guy who can help right away, but won't be a Jordan like presence.  Or draft on a whim that a guy from high school will fill his potential, but has to sit in the D-League for a couple of years before they're able to touch them. 

For those of you that didn't know, the reason for the lack of writing on my part was that I was in Las Vegas for a business trip.  Let me tell you, beware.  The amount of money whether won or lost won't be discussed, but make sure before anyone plans a trip like this, they know how to play the games.  I visited the Sports Book section of the Rio Casino, and I have never been overwhelmed like I was at that moment.  It was almost a heavenly glow coming from the lights on the wall, and I didn't make a bet.  I couldn't be sure of anything.  Football season around?  I'm all over it, like grease on gears.  If you're going to go the sports betting route, make sure you have internet access, and know everything that is going on with each team.  Because they won't give you that information in the casinoes, letting you bet blindly.