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.”

According to the LA Times, not only has O.J. Mayo been impressive on the court but he’s doing well in the classroom as well. Mayo is on pace to become a PAC-10 honor roll student and planned to begin taking classes in his major — real estate development and business management — next semester. He could have enough credits to be a semester ahead by the end of this year.

“Only time will tell” whether the projected lottery pick in the 2008 NBA draft remains in school next year, Mayo said, “but right now I’m getting ready for next year and moving on toward my major.”

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).

O.J. Mayo is the Fresh Prince of Los Angeles according to SLAM Magazine, as he will be featured on the cover of SLAM issue 112. While the article focuses on Mayo’s potential, his background and what makes him tick, Slam’s Ryan Jones gives a breakdown of why O.J. Mayo was chosen for the cover, among other things.

OJ Mayo’s story combines the all-too-familiar cliche of the young black ballplayer — poor, single-parent household, etc and so forth — with almost unparalleled levels of media hype and a run of image-shaping circumstances that’s almost too strange to believe.

Some pictures of O.J. Mayo playing in the exhibition game in Mexico last weekend from USChoops.com

Listen to the O.J. Mayo Interview (MP3) where he talks about basketball, his future and school during his formal introduction to the Los Angeles area media.

People from around the world will get their chance to see O.J. Mayo when the Southern California Trojans and seven other teams play in the new Anaheim Classic over Thanksgiving weekend. Mayo and the Trojans play San Diego on Thanksgiving night on ESPN2.

Source: ESPN

Check out Ben Collins of Slam Online explaining in 559 words why he ranks O.J. Mayo and the Trojans at number seven in their Preseason Top 25. He even encourages you to set yourself on fire:

So we implore you to go ahead and do what’s natural: flip out! Everybody! Come on! Make a life-sized OJ Mayo cut-out, dress it up all pretty-like and tango with it on your front lawn. Drape a USC flag around your shoulders like a shawl and wear only that to work every day. Slather yourself in red and yellow facepaint. When you feel the facepaint isn’t expressive enough, set yourself on fire.