OPINION

By Mike DeCourcy

updated 5:36 p.m. ET Aug. 29, 2007

Mike DeCourcy

Three days, three headlines.

So try telling me O.J. Mayo is not off to a fantastic start as a member of the Southern California Trojans.

The Los Angeles Times printed a feature Monday about Mayo's arrival at USC that was timed to coincide with his first practice as the Trojans prepare for a Labor Day trip to Mexico.

There was a follow-up item about the progress made in that practice, which Mayo described as "all right."

Going for three in a row was not going to be easy, not with football season cranking up and the pennant races winding down, Kobe Bryant reworking himself with the U.S. national team and, holy Moses, the NASCAR folks coming to town on top of all that.

Mayo is nothing if not creative, though. Watch this 6-4 point guard with a basketball in his hands, and you will see him invent ways for him and his teammates to score. And his invention is not always limited to the court. Faced with the pressure of generating another reason to get USC hoops into the media, he delivered. It was a routine, wide-open layup, but it was clutch: Mayo told writers assembled for his first official interview as a Trojans player -- call it freshman orientation -- that he would stay for his sophomore season if he does not project as an NBA lottery pick.

Which is like saying if the sun does not come up tomorrow, it'll be cold.

Mayo handled himself well, as he almost always does with the media. He is bright, engaging and smarter than many think. He has been well-known since he was a seventh-grader, which is a lot of time to spend in the public eye, but he chose USC because it would present the opportunity to become even more famous and, eventually, wealthier than would be likely at another college. And none of that is going to happen if he's boring.

A 6-4 point guard who won state championships at high schools in Ohio and West Virginia, Mayo most certainly will not be dull when the Trojans begin to play. He is a dazzling offensive basketball player who will reinvent this team. USC was extremely successful a year ago with Nick Young and Gabe Pruitt forming a strong perimeter tandem. Those guys will be missed in many ways, some of them subtle, but no one will remember them once Mayo puts on his uniform. He is that charismatic.

None of which means the Trojans will be better, or even good. Mayo and his classmates will need to absorb coach Tim Floyd's defensive teaching; he is one of the best in that department and committed to making sure his teams are sound at that end. They will need to progress quickly to handle a challenging schedule that includes Oklahoma, Kansas and Memphis.

In O.J. Mayo's one and only season on campus, though, Southern California basketball will not be boring. He won't allow that, not for one day.

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