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Published: May 14, 2008
NCAA says it has new information on Mayo and is still investigating
HOUSTON -- Saying the NCAA has "new information," President Myles Brand promised to investigate O.J. Mayo, a former Southern California basketball star, who is said to have received thousands of dollars in gifts from money given to an event promoter by a sports agency.
On Sunday, ESPN reported that Bill Duffy Associates provided Rodney Guillory with about $200,000 before Mayo arrived at Southern Cal. Louis Johnson, a former associate of Mayo's, told Outside the Lines that Mayo received about $30,000 and other benefits from Guillory while in high school and during his one season at Southern Cal.
Mayo declared for the NBA Draft after the season and hired BDA Sports' Calvin Andrews as his agent.
Brand, speaking yesterday in Houston to kick off this week's Division II National Championships Festival, said that "our enforcement division has new information" about Mayo's case "and as a matter of fact, when we have new information on any case, we will investigate."
He would not comment further on the specifics of Mayo's case.
Duffy denied any illegal activity involving Mayo on Monday, but Southern Cal said it is working with the NCAA and the Pac-10 "in a cooperative investigation to review these new allegations."
More basketball
■ Gardner-Webb has hired Michael Lee as an assistant men's basketball coach. Lee played under Roy Williams and Bill Self at Kansas between 2000 and 2005, and was a graduate assistant at Kansas last season. He also played with the Harlem Globetrotters for a season after college and played professionally in France and Canada in 2006-07.
■ Coach Trent Johnson of LSU has released J'Mison Morgan, a 6-10 center from Texas, from a letter of intent he signed in November. Morgan's mother, Bianca Morgan, said that her son wanted to play elsewhere after LSU fired Coach John Brady and that he will now attend UCLA.
Football
■ The Buffalo Bills released Kevin Everett yesterday, clearing the way for him to receive disability benefits for the spinal-cord injury that ended his career.
Everett was initially paralyzed from the neck down after a violent collision with Denver's Domenik Hixon during a kickoff return in a 2007 season opener.
Everett will be able to apply for long-term disability benefits and a one-time payment under the player-health reimbursement plan. He wouldn't have been eligible for the programs if he had stayed on the Bills' active roster. Everett, a third-round draft pick in 2005, also is eligible for full pension benefits because he has credit for three seasons.
■ Matt Walsh, a former video assistant for the New England Patriots, disclosed no new rules violations by the team during a 3½-hour meeting with Commissioner Roger Goodell or in tapes that the NFL released yesterday.
The clips shown cut between shots of opposing coaches sending in signals and plays that followed. Goodell said he didn't anticipate punishing the team any more than he already had, adding "the fundamental information that Matt provided was consistent with what we disciplined the Patriots for last fall."
The investigation started after the NFL confiscated tapes from a Patriots employee who recorded the New York Jets' defensive signals from the sideline during a game last season. The NFL fined Coach Bill Belichick $500,000, fined the team $250,000 and took away New England's first-round draft pick.
■ A judge in Tampa, Fla., yesterday sentenced Troy Hambrick, a former NFL running back, to five years in prison for selling crack cocaine. Hambrick pleaded guilty Feb. 26 to one count of distributing 50 grams or more of crack cocaine.
Hambrick played in the NFL for five seasons and had his best year in 2003, rushing for 972 yards and five touchdowns for Dallas.
■ Linebacker Lofa Tatupu of the Seattle Seahawks was arrested during the weekend for investigation of drunken driving.
Tatupu, a three-time Pro Bowler, was stopped early Saturday, said police in Kirkland, Wash. An arrest report said Tatupu had breath tests of .155 and .158 -- the legal limit is .08.
Tatupu's car was impounded and he was taken to the police station for a breath test.
Recruiting
■ Jonathan Adams of West Stokes has committed to play football at Davidson, according to a release from the college, and will switch from quarterback to receiver.
Adams (6-0, 175) passed for more than 1,700 yards, rushed for more than 1,000 and had a hand in 33 touchdowns as a senior. He had career totals of 3,375 yards and 35 touchdowns rushing and 2,562 yards and 31 touchdowns passing.
■ Inga Muciniece, a 6-5 center from Barton County (Kan.) Community College, has signed to play women's basketball at N.C. State, Coach Kay Yow announced yesterday.
Muciniece, a native of Ventspils, Latvia, averaged 10.3 points, 11.9 rebounds and 3.1 blocked shots last season as Barton went 34-4 and placed fourth in the NJCAA National Tournament.
■ Roy Hinson III and Josh Maggard have signed to play men's basketball at Gardner-Webb.
Hinson, a 6-6 forward, averaged 8.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks last season as a sophomore at Palm Beach (Fla.) Community College. He is a son of Roy Hinson, a first-round draft pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1983 who played 12 seasons in the NBA.
Maggard, a point guard, led Kokomo Northwestern High to Indiana's Class 2-A state title in 2007 and a deep run into the playoffs in 2008. He averaged 17.1 points, 6.9 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 2.6 steals as a senior.
Soccer
■ The fourth annual Josh Gray Memorial Alumni Soccer games will be Friday at Mount Tabor's football stadium, with the women's game at 6 p.m. and the men's game at 8 p.m.
Admission is $5, with all proceeds going to the Josh Gray Scholarship Fund. Gray was a Mount Tabor player who died in December 2004, during his senior year, of a heart condition that sometimes afflicts athletes.
■ North Carolina's Yael Averbuch and Duke's Lorraine Quinn are among a group of women's soccer players who have been selected to train with the Under-23 U.S. national team in Germany from Friday through May 24.
Baseball
■ The U.S. baseball team will play Canada in four exhibition games in North Carolina before heading to the Beijing Olympics. The first game will be at USA Baseball's national training complex in Cary on Aug. 1; the next three will be in Durham on Aug. 2-4.
Baseball was dropped from the Olympics for the 2012 London Games but is trying to gain reinstatement for 2016. The U.S. won the gold medal in Sydney in 2000.
but did not qualify for the 2004 Olympics.
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N.C. Politics
Federal Politics
The Downtown Summer Music Series will begin on Thursday. Ed Bumgardner talks to some of the organizers of the Downtown Jazz lineup, in which a form of music known as "smooth jazz" will play a more prominent role this year.
Thursday's relish stories will appear in the Entertainment section.
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