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As I tend to do I fixate on certain things and spend way too long researching it and recently that's been OJ Mayo and to a lesser extent, Bill Walker.
Mayo was born to unmarried parents both of whom were 14 at the time in West Virginia, in a town decimated by the closing of a local mine. Mayo's dad Kenny Ziegler was something of a local legend as a HS player(after OJ was born of course). When Mayo was 6 it was discovered that Dwaine Barnes was his paternal grandfather. Barnes was something of a local legend himself when he played ball. At 10 Barnes convinced Mayo's parents that he(and Walker) were special talents and Barnes formed an AAU team that featured them. Barnes later convinced the parents of Mayo to let OJ move to Kentucky so he could play varsity ball in 7th grade(walker's parents wouldn't agree to it so he stayed behind). Seth Davis recently wrote an article that implied there's actually some question if Barnes really is Mayo's grandfather, Ziegler apparently didn't know his own father for years growing up and then didn't tell Barnes that Mayo was Ziegler's son until Mayo was 6. there's some who believe that Barnes was simply dating Zieglers mother but is not actually his father. For now we'll assume Barnes really is Mayo's grandfather since it's far fetched to think that when OJ was just 6, Barnes realized he was going to be a basketball star someday and somehow convinced Ziegler he was his father so he could cash in on OJ later.
When OJ was in 8th grade in Kentucky, Walker transferred to the same school from Ohio and was enrolled as a 9th grader. This is where the whole Walker being ruled ineligible thing comes from, he was in 8th grade in Ohio but the school never had his transcripts, by the time they got him, he was in Kentucky and those transcripts said he was a 9th grader. Barnes wanted him in the same grade as Mayo and when the coach refused to get the school to reclassify him, he moved Walker to North College Hill in Ohio midseason where he enrolled as an 8th grader. Mayo followed 2 months later after the season ended, also an 8th grader.
When Mayo enrolled in North College hill he told them he would be living with his grandfather, his legal guardian Dwaine Barnes, and his uncle. They later found out that Barnes WAS his grandfather, and that he'd never actually been made the legal guardian, he had applied but it was never actually made official for some reason. Seth Davis recently wrote that Mayo has admitted to him that Barnes doesn't actually live in Ohio, he lives in West Virginia. It's still open for debate who Mayo does live with and who pays the rent. His uncle is reportedly living there and is a retired US Marine. While not rich, the uncle is not poor like Mayo's father is but there's considerable debate who has been paying the rent, Ziegler the uncle, Barnes, Sonny Vaccaro of reebok, or Rodney Guillory. Guillory is an event promoter in LA who is active in the amateur basketball world(AAU). He's also the guy who got Jeff Trepagnier and Tito Maddox suspended by the NCAA 6 years ago since he was a runner for an agent. He's currently rumored to be connected to agent Andy Miller although that's hearsay(it's in the book about Telfair FYI). Guillory is a close friend of OJ's and one of the reasons he wants to go to USC. Vaccaro also lives in LA.
After his last suspension from North College Hill(3 times last year once for hitting a male student, once for pot, once for skipping classes and hitting a female student), Mayo decided to transfer to Oak Hill in VA for his last year. He and Walker both applied. Mayo was rejected due to discrepancies in his transcripts, and the incident hitting the girl. Since the NCAA is cracking down on prepschools, Oak Hill refused to take such a high profile kid without a clean transcript. Walker was told he had to wait until Ohio HS officials ruled on his eligibility, when Mayo was rejected, Walker withdrew his application figuring if they won't take Mayo, they certainly won't take a kid whose transcript is so messed up nobody knows what grade he's in.
Both kids have announced they will return to North College Hill for their last year, Walker can't play, Mayo can. Some have been reporting Walker will be draft eligible in 2007 since his graduating class should have been June 06, but the NBA has already stated they won't allow that, his graduating class will be June 07(since he hasn't graduated yet) and he'll be draft eligible June 08, same year as Mayo. Both were held back years ago so they'd be a year older when they made the jump from HS to the NBA, not knowing then the NBA would change the rule. Both will be 19-20 when they get out of HS.
Rumors have been circulating for well over a year about Mayo's amateur status, there's considerable debate if he'll ever be allowed to play a college game. When people think an agent or a shoe company exec have been paying your rent for several years, it puts your amateur status in doubt. Walker there's less rumor around but more of a guilt by association, if his transcript is cleared up and he graduates, look for him to play at Kansas State in 07.
Schea Cotton was once OJ Mayo, a 15 year old phenom in HS, freshman starting on varsity at Mater Dei(same year Miles Simon was a senior there). Everyone in America wanted Cotton, he kept changing schools, he was nearly 2 years older than most in his class, and he stopped growing when most of his opponents were still growing and improving. By his senior year he committed to Long Beach, then retracted it and committed to UCLA. Then the NCAA disallowed his SAT scores because he'd taken an untimed, large font test, and they ruled he shouldn't have been allowed to. with no time to appeal before classes started, he enrolled at a prepschool, then played JC ball, and ultimately college ball at Alabama. Cotton is now 28 and is a self employed personal trainer who is currently on the roster(but not yet playing) for the Wizards Vegas Summer League club. He's still 6'6" 240 roughly the same size he was as a 15 year old frosh in HS(bit heavier). He's considered a total longshot to even go to camp let alone make the roster of the Wizards. 15 years ago NIKE got in trouble for giving out too many gifts at a camp to kids, every kid at the camp was temporarily stripped of their amateur status until it was ruled that if they gave the stuff back, they'd be reinstated. Among those campers, 13 year old Schea Cotton.
While realistically it's VERY unlikely that Mayo's career will play out like Cotton's did(injuries derailed him after Bama but basically he just never got better), it is interesting to see all the parallels in their careers. IF Mayo is indeed not allowed to play college ball next year he'll presumably sign a shoe contract and then play overseas for a year. Odds are he'll never have to work for a living the way Cotton does. Odds are quite high both Walker and Mayo will be lottery picks in 08 when they're draft eligible, they're both better players than Cotton.
Amateur basketball is so screwed up it's just scary, for the kids like Mayo and Walker who are that good it almost doesn't matter, they'll get paid eventually, but there's a lot more kids making a lot of the same mistakes who won't wind up NBA lottery picks. They may not even end up as fortunate as Cotton, who still lives in the same house in Long Beach he grew up in clinging to that NBA dream one more year.
Mayo was born to unmarried parents both of whom were 14 at the time in West Virginia, in a town decimated by the closing of a local mine. Mayo's dad Kenny Ziegler was something of a local legend as a HS player(after OJ was born of course). When Mayo was 6 it was discovered that Dwaine Barnes was his paternal grandfather. Barnes was something of a local legend himself when he played ball. At 10 Barnes convinced Mayo's parents that he(and Walker) were special talents and Barnes formed an AAU team that featured them. Barnes later convinced the parents of Mayo to let OJ move to Kentucky so he could play varsity ball in 7th grade(walker's parents wouldn't agree to it so he stayed behind). Seth Davis recently wrote an article that implied there's actually some question if Barnes really is Mayo's grandfather, Ziegler apparently didn't know his own father for years growing up and then didn't tell Barnes that Mayo was Ziegler's son until Mayo was 6. there's some who believe that Barnes was simply dating Zieglers mother but is not actually his father. For now we'll assume Barnes really is Mayo's grandfather since it's far fetched to think that when OJ was just 6, Barnes realized he was going to be a basketball star someday and somehow convinced Ziegler he was his father so he could cash in on OJ later.
When OJ was in 8th grade in Kentucky, Walker transferred to the same school from Ohio and was enrolled as a 9th grader. This is where the whole Walker being ruled ineligible thing comes from, he was in 8th grade in Ohio but the school never had his transcripts, by the time they got him, he was in Kentucky and those transcripts said he was a 9th grader. Barnes wanted him in the same grade as Mayo and when the coach refused to get the school to reclassify him, he moved Walker to North College Hill in Ohio midseason where he enrolled as an 8th grader. Mayo followed 2 months later after the season ended, also an 8th grader.
When Mayo enrolled in North College hill he told them he would be living with his grandfather, his legal guardian Dwaine Barnes, and his uncle. They later found out that Barnes WAS his grandfather, and that he'd never actually been made the legal guardian, he had applied but it was never actually made official for some reason. Seth Davis recently wrote that Mayo has admitted to him that Barnes doesn't actually live in Ohio, he lives in West Virginia. It's still open for debate who Mayo does live with and who pays the rent. His uncle is reportedly living there and is a retired US Marine. While not rich, the uncle is not poor like Mayo's father is but there's considerable debate who has been paying the rent, Ziegler the uncle, Barnes, Sonny Vaccaro of reebok, or Rodney Guillory. Guillory is an event promoter in LA who is active in the amateur basketball world(AAU). He's also the guy who got Jeff Trepagnier and Tito Maddox suspended by the NCAA 6 years ago since he was a runner for an agent. He's currently rumored to be connected to agent Andy Miller although that's hearsay(it's in the book about Telfair FYI). Guillory is a close friend of OJ's and one of the reasons he wants to go to USC. Vaccaro also lives in LA.
After his last suspension from North College Hill(3 times last year once for hitting a male student, once for pot, once for skipping classes and hitting a female student), Mayo decided to transfer to Oak Hill in VA for his last year. He and Walker both applied. Mayo was rejected due to discrepancies in his transcripts, and the incident hitting the girl. Since the NCAA is cracking down on prepschools, Oak Hill refused to take such a high profile kid without a clean transcript. Walker was told he had to wait until Ohio HS officials ruled on his eligibility, when Mayo was rejected, Walker withdrew his application figuring if they won't take Mayo, they certainly won't take a kid whose transcript is so messed up nobody knows what grade he's in.
Both kids have announced they will return to North College Hill for their last year, Walker can't play, Mayo can. Some have been reporting Walker will be draft eligible in 2007 since his graduating class should have been June 06, but the NBA has already stated they won't allow that, his graduating class will be June 07(since he hasn't graduated yet) and he'll be draft eligible June 08, same year as Mayo. Both were held back years ago so they'd be a year older when they made the jump from HS to the NBA, not knowing then the NBA would change the rule. Both will be 19-20 when they get out of HS.
Rumors have been circulating for well over a year about Mayo's amateur status, there's considerable debate if he'll ever be allowed to play a college game. When people think an agent or a shoe company exec have been paying your rent for several years, it puts your amateur status in doubt. Walker there's less rumor around but more of a guilt by association, if his transcript is cleared up and he graduates, look for him to play at Kansas State in 07.
Schea Cotton was once OJ Mayo, a 15 year old phenom in HS, freshman starting on varsity at Mater Dei(same year Miles Simon was a senior there). Everyone in America wanted Cotton, he kept changing schools, he was nearly 2 years older than most in his class, and he stopped growing when most of his opponents were still growing and improving. By his senior year he committed to Long Beach, then retracted it and committed to UCLA. Then the NCAA disallowed his SAT scores because he'd taken an untimed, large font test, and they ruled he shouldn't have been allowed to. with no time to appeal before classes started, he enrolled at a prepschool, then played JC ball, and ultimately college ball at Alabama. Cotton is now 28 and is a self employed personal trainer who is currently on the roster(but not yet playing) for the Wizards Vegas Summer League club. He's still 6'6" 240 roughly the same size he was as a 15 year old frosh in HS(bit heavier). He's considered a total longshot to even go to camp let alone make the roster of the Wizards. 15 years ago NIKE got in trouble for giving out too many gifts at a camp to kids, every kid at the camp was temporarily stripped of their amateur status until it was ruled that if they gave the stuff back, they'd be reinstated. Among those campers, 13 year old Schea Cotton.
While realistically it's VERY unlikely that Mayo's career will play out like Cotton's did(injuries derailed him after Bama but basically he just never got better), it is interesting to see all the parallels in their careers. IF Mayo is indeed not allowed to play college ball next year he'll presumably sign a shoe contract and then play overseas for a year. Odds are he'll never have to work for a living the way Cotton does. Odds are quite high both Walker and Mayo will be lottery picks in 08 when they're draft eligible, they're both better players than Cotton.
Amateur basketball is so screwed up it's just scary, for the kids like Mayo and Walker who are that good it almost doesn't matter, they'll get paid eventually, but there's a lot more kids making a lot of the same mistakes who won't wind up NBA lottery picks. They may not even end up as fortunate as Cotton, who still lives in the same house in Long Beach he grew up in clinging to that NBA dream one more year.
