# ESPN Reports Mayo Accepted Gifts...



## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

"Louis Johnson, who was a part of Mayo's inner circle until recently, said Mayo accepted around $30,000 in cash and gifts during the past four years from Rodney Guillory, a 43-year-old Los Angeles event promoter. In addition to cash, the gifts included a flat-screen television for Mayo's dorm room, cell phone service, a hotel room, clothes, meals and airline tickets for Mayo's friends and a relative, according to Johnson, others with knowledge of the gifts and store receipts.

"When Mayo was in high school in Ohio and West Virginia, Guillory was receiving monthly payments from the Northern California sports agency Bill Duffy Associates. Johnson said BDA provided Guillory with around $200,000 before Mayo arrived at USC, and that Guillory used most of the money to support his own lifestyle but also gave a portion of it to Mayo.

"In exchange for the payments and gifts, Mayo entered into a verbal agreement to allow BDA represent him when he turned pro, Johnson told "Outside the Lines." http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3390695


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## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

I ought to add Mayo's statement: "In a statement, Mayo said: "I am focusing on the process of making my dream come true, which is to play professional basketball. I will not allow these allegations to become a distraction to me and my family. I have been through investigations by the NCAA, the Pac Ten and USC before I attended school and during the time I have been here. I have not engaged in any wrongdoing. If these claims were true I would suspect they would have been discovered by one of these organizations.""


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## Block (Apr 22, 2007)

what a dumb kid.


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

Ha, just posted the exact same thing in the college forum - Mayo took gifts at USC / Who else pays?

You think this is true?


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## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

Well, they're allegations, so let's keep that in mind. And second, he won't get in trouble anyway even if it's true: the school will. So they're the dumb ones.


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## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

I think there is probably some substance to it, yes. But it's also always interesting to see who comes out as a whistleblower and why. This guy apparently got cut off, which is when he "found the Lord," so to speak. There is no shortage of stories of college athletes--from very poor families--driving around campus in sports cars or SUVs, though, wearing expensive clothes, etc. That's always been the case and I assume always will be.


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

luther said:


> So they're the dumb ones.


Exactly



luther said:


> That's always been the case and I assume always will be.


Exactly right, again



> Johnson provided "Outside the Lines" with receipts and invoices for many of the purchases, including the cell phone service.


That could be a problem for Floyd.


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## kidd2rj (Jan 29, 2005)

i wouldn't mind seeing a rule that players who accepted gifts are banned from the nba for a year. even if it comes out later in their career like webber. The agents/backers who offer the gifts are to blame but you also have to blame the kids for accepting it. If they know there's such a harsh penalty then maybe they will think twice. in the case of mayo, all he had to do was play 1 freakin year of college ball and he'd go to the nba. what was the point of accepting gifts?


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## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

I agree that it seems unfair for the kids to get off without penalties, but then you have to think, why would the NBA (or more importantly, the NBA Players Association) be willing to accept that? Collegiate eligibility has nothing to do with them, and they certainly aren't about to give up cash and a part of their careers because of it. The NCAA is the organization that's worried about keeping up the charade of "student-athlete." In this circumstance, I think the Europeans are the ones doing things properly: stop pretending. Maybe the kid plays second division ball, maybe he's good enough to play for the first division. But either way, at least they're not pretending he's some "virginal" amateur. The NCAA has been hypocritical about this ever since college basketball became a money-maker, in other words, decades. I do not condone cheating, but I do condone a complete systemic overhaul that removes high-level basketball from the universities, or keeps it affiliated in an entirely different way. As long as you're forced to pretend your high-level athletes are students even while those athletes are headed for near-certain wealth and fame, there will be cheating.


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## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

By the way, if the allegations are true, Mayo should've done what he was rumored to do before he committed, and that's play for some Sonny Vaccaro traveling team, a minor league team or a European pro team. And to be honest, I don't know why some preps don't do that, especially the lattermost. Can you imagine spending a year in Treviso, in Rome, in Athens, in Madrid when you're 18 or 19 years old, making a very good living and playing basketball?


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

luther said:


> Can you imagine spending a year in Treviso, in Rome, in Athens, in Madrid when you're 18 or 19 years old, making a very good living and playing basketball?


Or simply getting to go to college for free and getting a stipend 

College isn't for everyone. I wish more guys would go oversees.


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## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

"College isn't for everything," isn't that the truth. I wish they'd quit propagating the lie and let people who want to play basketball, play basketball. If they're good enough, give them a chance. I do believe in strong education, but my personal beliefs on that lean more toward ensuring a stronger public education at the primary and secondary levels, not taking kids from generally weak school systems and throwing them into a college for a farcical "higher education." For the guys who go to college in order to really go to college, great--I applaud them. Guys like Bill Bradley, Len Elmore and others are remarkable that they balanced it all. But if you're a poor and uninterested student who just wants to get on with the business of your career, basketball, I think a _legitimate_ (as opposed to what some of our public schools provide) high school diploma is completely acceptable.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

It's hard for me to see how USC is at fault for this unless they knew about it...Of course it becomes a pattern after you add in Reggie Bush.There aren't any allegations against the university here.It's between Mayo and some agency.For that matter these people are doing some heavy duty gambling.The various player unions could decertify them and they wouldn't be allowed to rep players and there's no legal oblgation for Mayo to sign with them.They could threaten to expose him like the people with Bush did,but Mayo won't get punished for that.


Now if Mayo is living like an arab oil prince in his dorm room I'd think that someone at USC should probably know about it,but if he's being more or less discrete then I doubt that they're tossing his room for bundles of cash and such.


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## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

An NCAA investigation would determine how at fault USC is, basically deciding whether they provided ample oversight. So your points will really be the crux of it: not necessarily did they know, but even if they didn't, should they have known?


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## bball2223 (Jul 21, 2006)

luther said:


> Well, they're allegations, so let's keep that in mind. And second, he won't get in trouble anyway even if it's true: the school will. So they're the dumb ones.


No USC won't get in trouble. They should be in trouble already for Football, and this one also should get them in trouble. Myles Brand is a nutless schmuck of an NCAA president.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

Meh, is this really a big deal ? I bet most heavily recruited kids have accepted some kind of gifts. Even scholarships are bribes after all, the NCAA is not an amateur organization although they still want to act like one. This is hypocrisy at its best.


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## Dre (Jun 20, 2003)

Please. I'm pretty sure every All-American talent is getting preferential treatment. This guy is just bitter Mayo broke off from him, now he's snitching.


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## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

These past few posts are the exact problem. We all know there is hypocrisy. We all know there is cheating. But yet, yes, cheating is a big deal. The problem is, the entire system needs to be overhauled so that the cheating doesn't have to happen.


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

croco said:


> Meh, is this really a big deal ?


For the college, obviously yes... Just to add to what you said about the NCAA's hypocrisy ~ this is why the major colleges get a slap when violations happen. The NCAA knows where their money comes from. So I guess, no, it's not really that big of a deal.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

luther said:


> These past few posts are the exact problem. We all know there is hypocrisy. We all know there is cheating. But yet, yes, cheating is a big deal. The problem is, the entire system needs to be overhauled so that the cheating doesn't have to happen.


Cheating is too human to not happen, we all know that. The problem is that some colleges can afford huge bribes while others can't, there is never going to be a balance. I think the system is actually relatively fair if you compare it to professional sports or sports in Europe, colleges and teams have a chance to establish (very) good programs.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

The thing that should happen is that the NBA players association should find out if this is true and then decertify this agency if it is.That would pretty much put an end to this sort of thing once and for all because the penalty would eliminate all the potential gain and put the perpetrator out of business.I assume the government could do the exact same thing,but it would be easier for the NBAPA.


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## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

Everyone is assuming nothing will happen, but think about what DOES happen: UNLV, Michigan, Minnesota and other schools have been virtually crippled by sanctions. A couple years without postseason opportunities or with fewer scholarships can really demolish a team, taking years to come back. No, they don't disappear altogether, but they drop significantly in stature. UNLV and Michigan were both perennial national powers before their sanctions. They were true destination schools. Now? They're working their ways back to respectability, but neither brings fear to opponents' hearts; neither exactly inspires potential recruits from around the country. USC isn't even lucky enough to have been at that level, and are more analogous to Minnesota--a school that sometimes has been competitive, but that's about it. A couple scholarships lost, a few postseasons at home, and they're going to endure half a decade or more of desperation.


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## c_dog (Sep 15, 2002)

it's easy for people to point fingers and say what mayo did was wrong. i think almost anybody when presented with free gifts and big money would take it without much thought, especially when they come from poor families like mayo. mayo did what 99.99% of the people would do given the exact same scenario. it may be wrong, but nobody would turn it down unless they were a saint or something.

and people can talk about changing the system all they want but it's not that simple. colleges will keep on bribing kids into accepting their scholarships, and there's really not much anybody can do about it.


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## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

croco said:


> Cheating is too human to not happen, we all know that. The problem is that some colleges can afford huge bribes while others can't, there is never going to be a balance. I think the system is actually relatively fair if you compare it to professional sports or sports in Europe, colleges and teams have a chance to establish (very) good programs.


 But the cheating in this case comes from an inherent conflict of interest that comes from pretending money-making high-level sports have some natural affiliation with universities. They don't. Yes, there has always been and always will be cheating, but when there seems to be such a simple way of removing the need to cheat in this instance, it's a shame nobody wants to take care of it, instead acting as if those perpetrators who get caught are some lone rogue elements.


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## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

c_dog said:


> it's easy for people to point fingers and say what mayo did was wrong. i think almost anybody when presented with free gifts and big money would take it without much thought, especially when they come from poor families like mayo. mayo did what 99.99% of the people would do given the exact same scenario. it may be wrong, but nobody would turn it down unless they were a saint or something.
> 
> and people can talk about changing the system all they want but it's not that simple. colleges will keep on bribing kids into accepting their scholarships, and there's really not much anybody can do about it.


This has the makings of the whole "did Boozer cheat the Cavs" thread all over again... But really, if Mayo were smart, why not take what would certainly have been a much larger offer to play pro ball instead of taking a measly $30k? You can't tell me Real Madrid or Panathinaikos wouldn't have offered more than 10x that.


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## Dre (Jun 20, 2003)

Noone's ever going to be able to completely eliminate the cheating/bribery. With every new sanction put in place, college's will just find more hay to cover the needle. 

I don't really think it's a big deal, because realistically, these players are just getting what they deserved, being pimped by the NCAA. If someone's making a school millions, I'm not about to care about a flat screen in his dorm.


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

You can't ban someone from the NBA for accepting money, that's just the stupidest thing I have ever heard. As for whether or not this is true, I could careless. OJ's college career is over. Now USC, tough noogies. Should have recruited someone else.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

luther said:


> But the cheating in this case comes from an inherent conflict of interest that comes from pretending money-making high-level sports have some natural affiliation with universities. They don't. Yes, there has always been and always will be cheating, but when there seems to be such a simple way of removing the need to cheat in this instance, it's a shame nobody wants to take care of it, instead acting as if those perpetrators who get caught are some lone rogue elements.


Well, to me they are affiliated because a good amount of the student athletes will go pro in sports. They aren't amateurs before they graduate, only technically which is why this is even newsworthy. In a perfect world it might work, but it does not in our generation. 

And I really don't think it is simple to remove cheating unless you invent a machine for thought-reading.


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## HB (May 1, 2004)

He will pay a fine and move on, no big deal


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

luther said:


> Everyone is assuming nothing will happen, but think about what DOES happen: UNLV, Michigan, Minnesota and other schools have been virtually crippled by sanctions. A couple years without postseason opportunities or with fewer scholarships can really demolish a team, taking years to come back. No, they don't disappear altogether, but they drop significantly in stature. UNLV and Michigan were both perennial national powers before their sanctions. They were true destination schools. Now? They're working their ways back to respectability, but neither brings fear to opponents' hearts; neither exactly inspires potential recruits from around the country. USC isn't even lucky enough to have been at that level, and are more analogous to Minnesota--a school that sometimes has been competitive, but that's about it. A couple scholarships lost, a few postseasons at home, and they're going to endure half a decade or more of desperation.


I understand what you're saying, but because of the school's other athletic programs (I know, Michigan has football too) and because of the school's locale, I don't see USC falling off like that.

This has already been said, but other than Mayo being a Trojan, USC wasn't involved in this, if it happens to be true. The NCAA has already said they're clean. I highly doubt they place the major blame of all this on USC. I just don't see them getting penalized like some of the teams involved in something like this in the past.


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## Nimreitz (May 13, 2003)

Block said:


> what a dumb kid.


Why? There are no repercussions for a kid accepting gifts as an amateur. It only affects the USC program, which knew the risk of taking on OJ Mayo when they signed him.


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## s a b a s 11 (Dec 31, 2002)

Nimreitz said:


> Why? There are no repercussions for a kid accepting gifts as an amateur. It only affects the USC program, which knew the risk of taking on OJ Mayo when they signed him.


That's a good point that begs an answer to the next question -- what to do about it? And no, I don't think what someone else said in this thread "should have recruited another kid" is a legitimate (or smart) answer.

Stuart


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## JerryWest (Jun 24, 2002)

NCAA is a joke. Maybe Mayo did, maybe he didn't, either way I don't think it affects his NBA draft position or his abilities.

Also, this Louis Johnson sounds like a ******* who is trying to **** over Mayo with bad PR. Too bad for him, it won't affect him at all. The only that matters is how he performs in the NBA. If he gets slack it'll be because of his play.


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## rocketeer (Oct 7, 2002)

what they should do is have the nba get rid of the age limit so that mayo could have been getting paid in the nba where he belonged.


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## rebelsun (Nov 25, 2003)

If he did, does this actually surprise anyone? Is this really shocking people?


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## rocketeer (Oct 7, 2002)

RebelSun said:


> If he did, does this actually surprise anyone? Is this really shocking people?


it would have shocked me if he didn't.


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## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

RebelSun said:


> If he did, does this actually surprise anyone? Is this really shocking people?


I can't speak for others, but no, it's not shocking at all to me. I think most people were expecting a little Mayo controversy and were surprised when the worst we heard before this was that Carmelo had given him some tickets. But for me, it was yet another reminder at how stupid the system is that it invites this sort of crap under the table as opposed to just letting a guy go pro or paying players for the cash they obviously bring in.


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## reHEATed (Jun 29, 2003)

It should not affect his draft status and ranking

and honestly, I blame the NBA for this. They are making NBA ready players "go to college" and honestly, most of these guys dont belong and definately dont care. These guys are adults and good enough to be in the NBA. This whole go for a year thing is a joke and causes situations like this


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

My blog 

*Random Thoughts on the Mayo Mess*​


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## thaKEAF (Mar 8, 2004)

I would have taken gifts too. **** it.


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## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

wadeshaqeddie said:


> This whole go for a year thing is a joke and causes situations like this


Well, not really. Players have been accepting money and gifts illegally while going to college for years, including while there were no rules in place about going to college for a year. But you're right that it shouldn't affect his draft status at all--but has anyone said it would? The only way I can imagine it doing so is if someone is really going squeaky clean for prospects, like Portland has tried to do in an effort to erase the Jailblazers image.


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## Block (Apr 22, 2007)

Nimreitz said:


> Why? There are no repercussions for a kid accepting gifts as an amateur. It only affects the USC program, which knew the risk of taking on OJ Mayo when they signed him.


Just because you can get away with something doesn't mean you should do it. I would never put myself in a position to be accused, truthfully or falsely, and he should understand what he is worth. When someone is worth that much, people around will always be on the lookout to cash in. It's the same thing with Kobe. It's not illegal to have intercourse with random people but it's pretty retarded when you have millions and millions of dollars that people want.


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

wadeshaqeddie said:


> It should not affect his draft status and ranking


A quote from several NBA scouts and execs....

_"It's a complete non-issue to us," said one GM. "If we started eliminating prospects based off of accusations that they've taken money or gifts, there wouldn't be anyone left to draft."

Said another executive: "You've got a poor kid from a single mother home who had a man come into his life and offer to buy him things. It sounds like O.J. may have taken some of the gifts. I don't know many kids who wouldn't. We've got to quit making these kids into criminals."_

That's from ESPN.com


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

What the hell is wrong with kids these days??? Someone get C-Webb and J-Rose to show these young'uns how to kick it old school.


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## MemphisX (Sep 11, 2002)

Happens at every major school even Duke and North Carolina.


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

i wonder how long until things catch up to Calipari


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## USSKittyHawk (Jul 22, 2005)

TM said:


> _Said another executive: "You've got a poor kid from a single mother home who had a man come into his life and offer to buy him things. It sounds like O.J. may have taken some of the gifts. I don't know many kids who wouldn't. We've got to quit making these kids into criminals."_
> 
> That's from ESPN.com


I agree with that executive and Louis Johnson needs to stop snitching, he only making himself look like he is just salty that he isn't in Mayo's inner circle anymore.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

This Williams guy isn't harming Mayo at all.Mayo is going to go off and get rich.Williams is getting even with Guillory for something,likely not paying him any more.What has Mayo done to get into trouble for?People gave him stuff and he took it.I think I'd do the same thing so long as I didn't care about my amateur status.The only people Williams is going to harm is USC,Guillory and this agency.Frankly none of them are in line for much sympathy no matter how they fare.


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## Ron Mexico (Feb 14, 2004)

so the NBA has no problem with BDA giving money to 9th graders?


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

The Players association is who BDA has to worry about.If they decide to decertify them BDA is out of business overnight.You can't represent NBA players unless the union certifies your agency.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

He probably wouldn't have even gone to college if the NBA didn't force him. This is the exact story that would have been written about Lebron James if he went to school for a year. Mayo wasn't going to college and probably started taking gifts before the NBA changed it's rules about going to school. And even up till the end he thought about going overseas.

I wish more guys would go overseas, but I guess if you got to american colleges, you get known better, and you can increase your "brand".


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Lebron's amateur status was long gone before he went to the NBA.It's pretty obvious that his mother was borrowing money against his future earnings for at least a year or two before he went to the NBA.Ohio HS athletics bodies were investigating his amateur status.The guy was driving a hummer as I recall.


If the NCAA prevented a guy like Lebron from going to the NBA he'd be foolish not to go overseas.Nike gave Lebron tens of millions to sign with them before he played a game.You'd get the shoe money right away and you sign a one year deal to play in the ACB or La Lega.You certainly don't risk a career ending injury in college when you've got the chance to give yourself and your family lifetime security by signing your name on a shoe contract.


The one year rule has absolutely helped Beasley so far as the shoe money is concerned.Noone would have known who he was or how good he really was if he hadn't gone to college.He's probably going to make five times as much as he would have on his shoe deal and other endorsements based on the exposure he got in college.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

Of course the level of competition is higher overseas, and not ever high school star could hack it over in Europe straight out of high school.


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## lw32 (May 24, 2003)

I mentioned this 2 years ago in my blog and on the HS basketball board when Guillory and Mayo were chummy back in his HS days. Didn't know BDA was the agency behind it though. Was startlingly obvious with the similarities in the relationships between Mayo-Guillory and Trepagnier/Maddox-Guillory.

The NCAA needs to get it's act together. They're an utter joke of an organization and I squarely place the blame on their shoulders. This is happening, albeit on a smaller money scale, year in year out. Only the big names get caught because journalists don't have the time to act as watchdogs. Perhaps the NCAA should be hiring some journalist/detectives to do their dirty work.

It tells you something when the NCAA has done an investigation and found nothing, then a two-bob journalist has done some leg work and found out all this. The NCAA needs to get away from this false idea of amateurism, if musicians, artists and other sports talent can receive advice and consultation from agents at any old age why should basketball be any different? Lower the age limit to sign with an agent to 16 and start paying the kids. Let the agents pay the kids if they wish, what is the harm?

I can think of a few players still in HS with heavy links right off the top of my head that I'd be investigating.

Let me end with this question: What is wrong with agents giving incentives to teenagers? It takes the kid a couple weeks to write in and switch agents if they wish, and they're not in any way entitled to stay with the agency. After the agents have been burnt a few times, all this under the table business will curtail.


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

Nothing is wrong with it, but the NCAA doesn't want to lose their basketball cash cow. C.R.E.A.M.


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## lw32 (May 24, 2003)

HKF said:


> Nothing is wrong with it, but the NCAA doesn't want to lose their basketball cash cow. C.R.E.A.M.


Exactly. Greed.

These players need to start going overseas instead of the NCAA, or a rival league needs to be founded that will sign up 18 year old talent and pay good wages. There is definitely a market, somebody just needs to capitalize on it. The NBADL is not a solution, it's a joke as it stands. Pittance wages won't attract any top talent, which is exactly what the NBA wants because they're in bed with the NCAA.

These solutions will force the NCAA into changing their principals behind "amateurism", or the NBA will lower their age limit. Both associations will eventually push too far, and we'll have the (new age) NBA/ABA part 2 on our hands. Can't wait for some action to be taken against the monopoly!


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

MemphisX said:


> Happens at every major school even Duke and North Carolina.


How in the world did I forget about this...

Maggette and Piggie


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## Priest (Jun 24, 2003)

its easy for us to say go overseas


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

sign endorsements / show deals; sign million-dollar contracts; play against better competition... sounds pretty easy to me.

again, going overseas wouldn't be for everyone, but lebron / oden / etc. would have been good to do something like this, wouldn't they?


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## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

TM said:


> sign endorsements / show deals; sign million-dollar contracts; play against better competition... sounds pretty easy to me.
> 
> again, going overseas wouldn't be for everyone, but lebron / oden / etc. would have been good to do something like this, wouldn't they?


I agree whole-heartedly. Unless the problem Priest implies is that it's not so easy to go to another country, basically on your own. But so be it. Nobody HAS to go. But if you don't want to go to school, and you don't want to play domestically in lower-paying minors, well, suck it up.


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

luther said:


> is that it's not so easy to go to another country, basically on your own.


:laugh: think about what you just said. lebron, oden, telfair, etc.... you know any guy that would be taking advantage of this already has a possy. :biggrin:



luther said:


> and you don't want to play domestically in lower-paying minors, well, suck it up.


luther - (real question) you think any of the leagues those type of players would get in would be better than any NCAA conference? I really don't think it'd even be close. Playing against teenagers or playing against grown men..... Wouldn't you agree?



luther said:


> well, suck it up.


:clap:


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## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

TM said:


> luther - (real question) you think any of the leagues those type of players would get in would be better than any NCAA conference? I really don't think it'd even be close. Playing against teenagers or playing against grown men..... Wouldn't you agree?
> 
> 
> 
> :clap:


Without question, I think players whose teams compete in Euroleague or ULEB Cup would be facing better competition than virtually any college schedule could provide, yes. Add in domestic league games and it could also be very tough for people in the Spanish league, for example. Sure, there are years when the ACC is stacked and someone like Duke schedules another half dozen REALLY tough nonconference games, and so it can be very challenging in those situations, too. But overwhelmingly I'd say playing for any major European team is going to be more challenging. And even when the talent levels aren't the same, as you said, there's the difference of playing against professional, grown men. Real veterans.


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