If you watched opening night of the NBA on TNT may have seen the NBA’s new commercial and slogan for the season -“Where Amazing Happens.” Perhaps when it is all said and done and O.J. Mayo turns USC basketball into a powerhouse, they can add one more picture to their slide show.

Photo from SLAM Magazine (No. 122).

Scoop Jackson of ESPN has come up with his 07-08 NBAipedia and has an interesting entry for O.J. Mayo:

O.J. Mayo (legend est. 2004) is the USC freshman guard who will be the most-watched college player by NBA execs this year. Will be the most-anticipated freshman coming out of college since Carmelo Anthony — possibly more than Greg Oden and Kevin Durant. The Next LeBron. The Next D-Wade. The Next Kobe. Pay attention to the Bobcats, Sixers, Timberwolves, Kings, Hawks, Hornets and especially the Clippers (only because of the L.A. connection) to see if (more likely when) they start losing games to get a shot at getting Mayo first in next year’s draft. A recent report from an ESPN college basketball analyst out of Southern Cal: “Nick Young better be glad he left school early, because this kid Mayo would have ruined his NBA future. He’s that good.”

O.J. Mayo made 12 of 19 shots and finished with 34 points in an intrasquad scrimmage Sunday afternoon at the Galan Center. Tim Floyd gave his assessment on Mayo’s game thus far:

“Offensively, he’s poised and matured… Defensively, he’s like all of our guys. They have to have continued repetitions in what we’re doing as a team in terms of team defense and be a collective group that worries about the other guy.”

Mayo’s first “official” game with the USC Trojans is less than two weeks away (Nov. 10) against Mercer.

CollegeHoops.net ranks the Top 25 Players in the Pac-10 and O.J. Mayo is ranked #4 behind Darren Collison (UCLA), Chase Budinger (Arizona), and Brook Lopz (Stanford)

4. OJ Mayo, PG, USC – If Kobe leaves town, Mayo might become the best show in town

Eastbay has some Nike USC O.J. Mayo #32 Jerseys on their site for sale. No word if Mayo’s name is on the back.

Slam Online posted the full transcript to their interview with O.J. Mayo. It’s quite a long read but very interesting. Among the many points:

On why bother worrying about academics if he is going to be a “one and done” player as everyone says he will be:

I don’t want to think that. I mean, that could be a goal—it could be—but you never know. You never know what type of season we may have. We might come close to winning a national championship, might wanna just go and knock it out the next year. You never know. But right now I’m just worried about learning stuff in college, the experience, being independent.

On what the coaches at USC expect from him:

Being a point guard, coming in and being a leader. My main thing, I just want to come in and perfect winning.

On UCLA super freshman Kevin Love:

I’ve been knowing him since the eighth grade, I’ve watched him grow, he’s watched me grow, we’re getting better as players, we’re cool as friends. But I’m self-motivated. I gotta take care of my family. That’s enough motivation.

On Kobe:

I just think he takes his job serious. It’s not something just to be paid off of, be in magazines, you know, it’s serious. You step out on the court, it’s business. Like, “I’m here to show you that this is what I do, and I’m the best.”

On why USC?

Like a lot of people are like, “Why USC?” Well, you gotta go somewhere to learn, you know what I mean? And what better place to learn about than L.A.? Out here, a lot of people do things in real estate, in business. There’s a lot going on outside just basketball and the fast life, Hollywood and movies and stuff. There’s a lot of people that make things happen out here.

And finally a message to the kids:

I just want to let them know, if you got a dream, it’s cool to dream big things, because it can happen. Nothing’s really impossible anymore. As long as you work hard, you stay focused, and you know that, “This is what I wanna do, and I’m gonna do it, I don’t care, nothing’s gonna hold me back.” I just want people to know that it’s OK to dream big, make things happen.

Read the entire interview at Slam.

UCLA freshman Kevin talks about his cross-town rival and friend, O.J. Mayo

O.J. Mayo jogged onto the court with the index and middle fingers on both hands signaling the Trojans’ V-for-victory sign in front of about 5,000 fans at the Galan center last night. He wore a No. 32 jersey in tribute to his favorite player, Magic Johnson.

Mayo didn’t participate in the dunk contest, preferring to spread the competitions among his teammates, but he did play in the 2-ball competition where he teamed up with a female fan, with each of them trying to make as many shots as possible in 60 seconds. He tossed up an air ball on his first attempt but ended up making four of nine shots.

Afterwards, a 20 minute scrimmage was played that resembled more of an All-Star game as there was no defense and sloppy play throughout. Mayo ended up with 17 points as his team lost.

“If we’re going to goof around, we better pick [Friday] because [today] it’s going to be serious”

The USC Trojans officially open practice today.

O.J. Mayo and the USC Trojans will be broadcast on ESPN or one of its affiliates five times, including the game vs. consensus preseason top three-ranked Memphis at the Jimmy V Classic in New York and the Feb. 28 contest at Arizona, where last season the Trojans snapped a 21-game losing streak at McKale Arena.

The Trojans’ game vs. crosstown rival UCLA in Westwood on Jan. 19 will be televised by CBS and the Feb. 9 game at Washington State will be broadcast by ABC.

Prime Ticket or Fox Sports Net West will televise 13 Trojan contest, including home games vs. national powers Oklahoma on Nov. 29, Kansas on Dec. 2 and UCLA on Feb. 17.

USC is also on the wildcard list of games that may be selected on March 1 at Arizona State, March 6 vs. California and March 8 vs. Stanford.