With O.J. Mayo set to make his college debut this Saturday for the USC Trojans, the Press Enterprise has a great article on there being More to Mayo than Hype.

Mayo is a smart, academic, hard-working team guy and leader interested in more of the world than the 94-by-50-foot stage where he’s made himself famous. He’d rather outwork you than get by on his talent. And as much as he plans to become one of the 50 top players in NBA history, he’s also dedicated to reviving his West Virginia hometown as a real estate developer.

USA Today has an article about O.J. Mayo and how he has dispelled preconceptions.

I’m just a ballplayer. Am I a competitive ballplayer? Yeah. Do I want to win? Do I really want to work harder than anyone? Yeah. But as a person, I’m just like the next man. I’m no better than the next man. I’m no better than the next student or the next person. I just have a God-given ability to play basketball, and I want to use that to the utmost to support my family and support myself.

“I’m no better than you,” Mayo says. “I’m no better than the man on the corner with a ‘Hungry’ sign. I just have a talent, and I want to use it.”

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.”

Peter Simones has an article in today’s Daily Trojan: When nobody’s watching: O.J. Mayo not who you think he is

Check out this story of Mayo’s work ethic:

After the first night’s competition was all said and done, seven games had been decided – Mayo’s side had won five. The players walked over to their duffle bags, threw on jean shorts, changed shoes, sat down and joked about their summer experiences.

Everyone, that is, except Mayo.

Mayo never left the court. While everyone else was lounging, Mayo was practicing step-back 3-pointers. He would gather the ball, take one slashing dribble forward, hop backward so he was just behind the 3-point line and then shoot.

He missed his first two shots, cussed under his breath, then made 13 shots in a row. Most people would start getting excited at five or six consecutive threes. Mayo made 13, then cussed again after he missed an attempt at 14.

Andy Katz has a great article on the maturity of O.J. Mayo.

Check out the LA Times article about O.J. Mayo Blending in at USC.

He has played in a pickup game against Kobe Bryant, dined with LeBron James and gone window shopping along Melrose Avenue, yet O.J. Mayo hasn’t exactly gone Hollywood since arriving in Southern California. Far from it.

That much became clear several days ago when the USC freshman guard interrupted an interview to tell a homeless man sifting through a garbage bin outside the Galen Center that his shopping cart was rolling toward Figueroa Street. Mayo addressed the man, like he does all male adults, as “Sir.”

Mayo’s mode of transportation in the land of Bentleys and BMWs is a black beach cruiser, which he can still pedal somewhat anonymously through campus. Outside the Galen Center last week, two Trojans volleyball players spotted arguably the most heralded basketball recruit in school history and didn’t know who he was.

Read the entire Article

The New York Times has an article on O.J. Mayo and how he ended up committing to USC (University of Southern California). Some memorable points in the article:

• Head coach Tim Floyd said he did not bother to call Mayo or even send him a U.S.C. brochure.
• Mayo wanted to market himself before going to the N.B.A., and that Los Angeles would give him the best possible platform.
• O.J. Mayo wanted to be a pioneer for a new era
• Floyd answered the phone, he heard a teenager’s voice on the other end: “Coach, this is O. J. Mayo. I’d like to come to your school.”
• Mayo said that if he did not go to U.S.C., he would probably enroll at an African-American college.
• “It was the craziest thing I’ve ever been a part of. I kept thinking, ‘Either this kid is nuts, or he’s got the biggest vision I’ve ever seen.’ ” – Tim Floyd, USC Head Coach

Read the entire article.

Pat Forde of ESPN.com has written an article on O.J. Mayo entitled Mayo learns the burden of fame as a basketball prodigy. The article deals with OJ Mayo, who although has been in the spotlight ever since he was little, the amount of news and video coverage over a week where he was playing basketball games in three states, filing an injunction in a county courthouse to go from suspended to unsuspended, had the “technical” heard around the world, and played some of the top teams in the country, was a bit overwhelming.

“[O.J.] has received a lot of recognition and self-acclaim. But he has probably learned that certain things come with it — not all of them positive.” – Former Kentucky All-American guard and TV color analyst, Kyle Macy