Floyd paid $$$ to lure OJ Mayo to USC

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LOS ANGELES - USC men's basketball coach Tim Floyd made a direct cash payment to a man who helped deliver O.J. Mayo to the Trojans program, according toLouis Johnson, a former member of Mayo's inner circle.

Johnson, a one-time Mayo confidant, has told both NCAA investigators and federal authorities - including the FBI, IRS and U.S. Attorney's Office - thatFloyd gave at least $1,000 in cash to Rodney Guillory, a man who allegedly lavished Mayo with improper benefits while the guard starred for the Trojans.

Such an act would constitute a major NCAA violation for USC, which is the subject of an ongoing three-year investigation into alleged improprieties in boththe football and men's basketball programs.

Approached by Yahoo! Sports at his California residence on Friday, Guillory declined to comment. A message left on Floyd's cell phone Tuesday was notimmediately returned. The NCAA and USC also declined to comment.

"As you know, USC can't comment on any issue that's the subject of an ongoing NCAA and Pac-10 investigation," USC general counsel CarolMauch Amir said.

The revelation involving Floyd is the latest allegation put forth by Johnson, who described Guillory to Yahoo! Sports as a long-time "runner" whosteered Mayo to the Bill Duffy Associates (BDA) sports agency. Johnson said Guillory received between $200,000 and $250,000 from BDA Sports for his efforts,which resulted in Mayo initially signing with BDA when he left USC after one season for the NBA in April 2008.

BDA spokesperson Ilana Nunn declined to comment on the relationship between BDA and Guillory.

Johnson also said Mayo received approximately $30,000 in extra benefits from Guillory while playing for the Trojans. He first made those allegations toESPN's "Outside The Lines" in May 2008, producing a litany of receipts to back up his claims, including purchases of food, clothing and a 42-inchflat screen TV for Mayo. Mayo broke off his relationship with BDA Sports shortly after the ESPN report aired. Mayo denied those allegations to reporters onseveral occasions. His agent, Leon Rose, didn't return calls to his office and cell phone.

Floyd's alleged financial involvement with Guillory is a potentially damaging new twist for USC, and was disclosed to Yahoo! Sports last week byJohnson's attorneys, Anthony V. Salerno and David Murphy. The attorneys confirmed that Johnson had gone on the record with his account of the paymenttwice: first in a group interview in front of the FBI, IRS and U.S. Attorney's Office on May 28, 2008, and then again in the second of two interviews withNCAA investigators, which took place last week. Two members of USC's outside counsel also took part in the second NCAA interview and heard Johnson'saccount of Floyd's alleged payment. Salerno added that Johnson's account to federal authorities carried the threat of potential prosecution if Johnsonwas found to be lying.

"Louis knew that if he didn't tell the truth in that meeting, he'd be in the same boat that Martha Stewart was in for deceiving federalauthorities," Salerno said. "The agreement that he was under, the explicit agreement was that he had to be completely truthful in his statement.Lying to a federal agent is a whole crime unto itself. If you're going to talk to them at all, you have to tell the truth."

Johnson also confirmed his allegation of Floyd's payment to Yahoo! Sports.

"It's a complete and accurate depiction of the event I observed between Tim Floyd and Rodney Guillory," Johnson said.

Johnson told the NCAA and federal authorities the payment took place in the week leading up to the 2007 NBA All-Star weekend in Las Vegas - three monthsafter Mayo committed to USC while finishing his final year of high school. His attorneys said Johnson perceived the payment as an extension of Floyd'sgratitude for Guillory's delivery of Mayo to USC.

"It was clearly money in contemplation of inducing O.J. to go through with the decision [to play at USC]," Murphy said. "That was theunderstanding that Louis had - that this was money from Floyd to Guillory for them to go out and have a great weekend. It was the inducement for Guillory'sefforts in delivering [Mayo to sign with USC]."

The following is Johnson's account of the payment as told to Yahoo! Sports.

On Feb. 14, 2007, Johnson and Guillory packed up Guillory's black Infiniti SUV and were preparing for the drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas to attendthe NBA All-Star weekend. Before they left, Guillory informed Johnson several times that he had to meet with Floyd so the coach could give him cash for thetrip. Sometime between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., Guillory and Johnson headed toward Beverly Hills to meet with Floyd. During the drive, Johnson listened as Guilloryand Floyd exchanged several cell phone calls as Floyd explained where the meeting would take place.

Upon arriving in Beverly Hills, Guillory pulled up to a stretch of cafes in the downtown shopping district, where Floyd was waiting on the sidewalk. Becausethere were no parking spaces, Guillory asked Johnson to circle the block in the SUV until Guillory was ready to be picked up. Johnson exited the passenger sideof the vehicle, at which point Johnson saw Floyd and the two exchanged greetings. Johnson then got into the driver's seat and proceeded to circle the blockwhile Guillory and Floyd met.

After approximately 15 minutes, Johnson saw Guillory waiting on the curb in front of the stretch of cafes and pulled over to pick him up. Once Guillory wasinside the vehicle, he produced a white envelope with cash inside. Guillory told Johnson that Floyd had given him "a grand," and Johnson was able toview $100 bills inside the envelope. He said he believed there appeared to be "substantially" more than $1,000, although he did not count thebills.

A former sports writer who worked for the Long Beach Press-Telegram for 16 years, Johnson told Yahoo! Sports he befriended Guillory while covering the prepbasketball circuit in California in the late 1990s. That bond eventually extended into a friendship with Mayo, whom Johnson said he got to know throughGuillory in the summer of 2006. Johnson said he took several trips with Guillory to spend time with Mayo during the player's senior year at Huntington HighSchool in Huntington, W.Va. in the 2006-2007 season. And once Mayo arrived at USC, Johnson was a consistent member of the player's inner circle along withGuillory.

However, Johnson's relationship with Mayo and Guillory deteriorated in March 2008. He said his eventual break from the inner circle - and his decisionto go public with allegations of extra benefits - occurred for two reasons. First, he became increasingly disturbed by what he viewed as Mayo being"pimped" by Guillory, who Johnson alleged was receiving thousands of dollars on a monthly basis from BDA Sports. BDA declined to comment. Second,Johnson said he feared retribution from other members of Mayo's inner circle who he believes felt threatened by Johnson's relationship with Mayo.

"The problem that happens in these situations is G-R-E-E-D, first and foremost, and then P-O-W-E-R," Johnson said. "Those two things killthese types of situations all the time. People get greedy and people get power-hungry. Once that happens, that's it.

"I tried to talk to Rodney about putting an end to what was going on [around Mayo] before it got anymore out of hand. But he had no interest in that.He had blinders on. The money was all right there and he didn't care necessarily what was going to happen."

It was that fallout that led to Johnson's appearance on ESPN's "Outside The Lines." He told Yahoo! Sports that he withheld the informationabout the payment from Floyd to Guillory at that time because he has family in Southern California and didn't want it to appear that he was "takingdown USC." However, the information about the alleged Floyd payment was divulged to federal authorities, who sought an interview with Johnson as part ofan investigation into Guillory and his dealings with Mayo.

The allegation regarding Floyd could be a significant point in the NCAA's probe of USC. The NCAA could determine that the school showed lack ofinstitutional control or failure to monitor. According to NCAA guidelines, any cash payment from Floyd to Mayo or one of Mayo's associates wouldbe considered an extra benefit. And a payment to Guillory would appear to be particularly damning because of Guillory's prior history with the NCAA.

Guillory was previously investigated in 2000 for his involvement with former USC basketball player Jeff Trepagnier and former Fresno State basketball playerTito Maddox. USC briefly suspended Trepagnier for his involvement with Guillory in 2000, but Trepagnier was later cleared of any charges. However, the NCAAfound that Guillory had broken NCAA rules by purchasing airfare for Maddox. Later, Maddox painted Guillory as the go-between who helped arrange delivery ofcars and cash payments - some payments coming directly from Guillory, according to published reports.

Multiple sources told Yahoo! Sports that Guillory is currently under investigation by the FBI, IRS and U.S. Attorney's Office for his alleged dealingswith Mayo. Sources have told Yahoo! Sports that federal authorities are particularly interested in Guillory's use of a credit card linked to a fraudulentsickle cell foundation. Johnson said the card linked to the foundation was used to make purchases for Mayo after BDA Sports stopped providing Guillory withfunds. The foundation was set up by one of Guillory's friends, Tony Hicks, who is also being investigated by the FBI for his involvement. Hicks could notbe reached for comment.

Spokespersons for the FBI, IRS and U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment.



Boy...there's a shocker.
 
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Floyd gave at least $1,000 in cash to Rodney Guillory
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Must have meant to say $100,000.

Interesting that Renardo Sidney didn't end up signing with USC. Maybe Floyd is feeling guilty.
 
If the NCAA is gonna crack down on this, then they also need to look at the shady +*+ agreements that many schools give "family and friends" of starrecruits where they put them on the coaching staff....

anyways, between Mayo and Bu$h, its not surprising in the least.
 
$1000

thats it?!

this johnson dude just wasn't guaranteed any of Mayo's NBA money, thats all
 
Originally Posted by DoubleJs07

If the NCAA is gonna crack down on this, then they also need to look at the shady +*+ agreements that many schools give "family and friends" of star recruits where they put them on the coaching staff....
Yahoo! Sports stays hating on SC,
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I'm no fool, this !!*$ happens, it happens all around the country.
 
Originally Posted by ooIRON MANoo

Originally Posted by DoubleJs07

If the NCAA is gonna crack down on this, then they also need to look at the shady +*+ agreements that many schools give "family and friends" of star recruits where they put them on the coaching staff....
Yahoo! Sports stays hating on SC,
laugh.gif



I'm no fool, this !!*$ happens, it happens all around the country.
Well, if the NCAA is truly serious about getting rid of this crap, the need to really make an example out of someone and do something drastic andthey haven't done it yet. Suspend the entire program for a year for or two. Maybe something like that would get the point across.

And I have a very hard time believing this happens all over the country. It doesn't. There are maybe a handful of schools that I might suspect of thisshady stuff but not many.
 
Originally Posted by mjd77

Originally Posted by ooIRON MANoo

Originally Posted by DoubleJs07

If the NCAA is gonna crack down on this, then they also need to look at the shady +*+ agreements that many schools give "family and friends" of star recruits where they put them on the coaching staff....
Yahoo! Sports stays hating on SC,
laugh.gif



Well, if the NCAA is truly serious about getting rid of this crap, the need to really make an example out of someone and do something drastic and they haven't done it yet. Suspend the entire program for a year for or two. Maybe something like that would get the point across.
I'm no fool, this !!*$ happens, it happens all around the country.

The thing is that you can't, and this whole "let's make an example of so and so school" is so absurd. I'm not saying it because myschool is under the microscope. No one is going to get the SMU "death penalty", the NCAA doesn't want that. Look at what happened to Oklahoma acouple of years ago with Rhett Bomar. They were forced to forfeit victories, and then it was overturned. Nothing is going to happen to Florida State either. People forget that these schools are bigger than the NCAA.

What's new? That's what USC does, remember Reggie Bush?
Really, that is news to me. Bush was getting $$$, but not from USC. He was getting paid like every other major college athlete gets paid, bypeople that want to represent him when they eventually go pro.

The Bush and Mayo situations are similar, because it is coming from salty dudes that got kicked to the curb once the real money stared pouring in.
 
Originally Posted by mjd77

Originally Posted by FrenchBlue23

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Bigmike quick with the reply

What's new? That's what USC does, remember Reggie Bush?


Of course I remember reggie and Im still waiting for the NCAA to stomp on the football programs as$ for that. Just between football and basketball, Im sure USC has the most corrupt programs in the country.
I missed this one, dude you sound salty as +#@+.

You forget that one of the programs in your sig is just as "corrupt". Oregon has the best athletic facilities in NCAA sports, thanks to a privatecorporation. Oh wait, it was done through "donations" by Phil Knight,
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.

You want to talk about the basketball program, that is fine. They are not on the map. HS football players want to come to USC, to play. I'm sure theyget money under the table, like in ANY major program, from outside sources, but I don't think Pete has to pay them to come here.
 
stuff like OJ's situation does not happen all around the country.

If it did, he damn sure wouldn't have been at USC.
 
Originally Posted by ooIRON MANoo

Originally Posted by DoubleJs07

If the NCAA is gonna crack down on this, then they also need to look at the shady +*+ agreements that many schools give "family and friends" of star recruits where they put them on the coaching staff....
Yahoo! Sports stays hating on SC,
laugh.gif


I'm no fool, this !!*$ happens, it happens all around the country.


the classic USC fan replay " o it happens everywhere"

a coaching paying to get a player to come to there school doesnt happen all the time
 
Originally Posted by Al3xis

stuff like OJ's situation does not happen all around the country.

If it did, he damn sure wouldn't have been at USC.
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exactly... there are boosters all around the country.there are NOT coaches all around the country who will allow you to walk into their office and demand money for a player.
 
Originally Posted by jcuk3tm0

Originally Posted by 255forLife

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that coach does look like floyd
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No, he doesn't.

Yeah, it happens a lot. The NCAA will pick and choose its battles, usually allowing schools that bring in more money to its corporation off with a slap on thewrist. I wonder if U$C sells a lot of NCAA authorized merchandise.
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