Confidant says Mayo received thousands in illegal benefits

A former friend of USC freshman guard O.J. Mayo has alleged that Mayo violated NCAA rules by accepting tens of thousands of dollars in cash and benefits from L.A. events promoter Rodney Guillory since Mayo was in high school, according to a report broadcast this morning on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.”

Guillory provided Mayo with a flat-screen television, cellphone service, cash, meals, clothes and other benefits, Louis Johnson told ESPN. Johnson, a former confidant of Mayo and Guillory, alleged that Guillory acted as a runner for BDA Sports Management, which funded Guillory until the summer before Mayo enrolled at USC. When the agency stopped providing money at that time, Johnson said, Guillory set up a fake charity and used donation money to fund his expenses.

Johnson estimated that BDA provided more than $200,000 in cash and benefits, including a sports utility vehicle, to Guillory and that Mayo received only a small fraction of that money from Guillory. Johnson provided ESPN with expense receipts and money transfer orders to corroborate his account.

“The fact of the matter is, O.J. has been pimped by Rodney,” Johnson said in the report. Johnson, a former reporter for the Long Beach Press-Telegram, recently had a falling-out with Guillory and said he spoke because he wanted to bring the matter to the public’s attention and “force O.J. to make some changes in his life … that he desperately needs right now.”

Guillory’s alleged actions constitute the second set of potentially major violations recently to rock USC, which is still dealing with an NCAA investigation into whether former running back Reggie Bush received improper benefits from a would-be sports marketer.

Asked whether her organization would look into the Mayo matter, NCAA spokeswoman Gail Dent said the organization’s policies prohibit any comment on whether investigations are pending or ongoing.

Mayo denied any wrongdoing in a statement to ESPN, saying, “I have been through investigations by the NCAA, the Pac-10 and USC before I attended school and during the time I have been here. … If these claims were true I would suspect they would have been discovered by one of these organizations.”

Johnson said he and Guillory traveled to several of Mayo’s high school games when he was a senior at Huntington (W.Va.) High to build a relationship on behalf of BDA Sports Management in hopes that the phenom would eventually sign with the agency. Mayo, who last month declared for the NBA draft, signed with BDA vice president Calvin Andrews.

BDA represents a number of NBA stars, including Denver Nuggets All-Star Carmelo Anthony. Mayo was forced to pay $460 to charity in January after saying he accepted complimentary tickets from Anthony to attend a Lakers game at Staples Center.

BDA denied any improper conduct in a statement to ESPN.

“There were absolutely no illegalities in our recruitment of O.J. Mayo nor were there any agreements or understandings towards his selection of BDA,” the statement said. “O.J. Mayo’s decision to choose BDA as his representation firm had absolutely no bearing on anything other than O.J. recognizing our achievements and firmly believing that BFA will provide the guidance for him to reach his goals and attain great success.”

Guillory and Mayo’s friendship dates to 2003, when they met during a tournament run by Guillory, who later informed USC Coach Tim Floyd that Mayo was interested in playing for the Trojans.

Mayo told ESPN in his statement that Guillory “has been a positive influence on me as well as a strong African-American male presence in my life. Recently, my mother had the opportunity to spend time with Rodney as well, and has shared her appreciation for the way he has always treated me like I was family when I was so far away from home. I have nothing but respect for Rodney.”

Guillory had a previous association with former USC player Jeff Trepagnier, who was suspended a month by then-Coach Henry Bibby during the 2000-01 season in part because he had accepted complimentary airline tickets along with Fresno State’s Tito Maddox. The NCAA later cleared Trepagnier of any wrongdoing.

Floyd could not immediately be reached for comment.

In a statement, USC asserted that “the NCAA and the Pac-10 reviewed O.J. Mayo’s amateur status before and during his enrollment at USC, and did not identify any amateurism violations. Mayo and USC fully cooperated in these investigations.”

Before he enrolled at USC, Mayo told The Times that he had distanced himself from any overtures from would-be agents.

“I haven’t gotten any benefits, nothing,” he said before playing in the McDonald’s All-American high school game in March 2007. “I still live in the same house, my momma drives the same car, she has the same job. … As long as we have goals, we’re not going to have time for the agents and stuff. We’re all going to be focused. We all have the same goal, to win a national championship.”

 ben.bolch@latimes.com