Mayo puts USC on the star map

O.J. Mayo’s an impact player, all right. He’s still a year away from playing a game for USC, yet he managed to overshadow national finalist UCLA’s season opener Wednesday and his future team’s debut in its new arena tonight.

All because he sent a fax.

In it, he stated his intent to play basketball at USC. And that became the lead college basketball story in town. One of the top prep stars just changed the entire perception of a program with his signature.

All of a sudden the school isn’t just a football powerhouse, it’s a destination for a top-five basketball recruit.

All of a sudden, there’s a new image to consider from the combination of USC, O.J. and jersey No. 32 instead of, um, that Simpson guy.

It seems the 6-foot-5 Mayo’s all about getting you to change your thinking. Role reversals.

Unknowns are supposed to come to L.A. to get discovered. Here’s a star in the making that just brought an unheralded program into the national conversation.

Top prospects are supposed to be swamped by eager recruiters. Mayo’s the one who called USC first.

“I don’t know that we would have called O.J., because it didn’t make sense,” USC Coach Tim Floyd told The Times’ Ben Bolch. “We thought he would be like all the other guys that are top-five or top-10 and find the highest-rated school to go to.”

USC’s lack of championship basketball tradition was not a deterrent to Mayo, said Rodney Guillory, an advisor to Mayo who lives in Los Angeles. Instead, it made it a better destination.

“He wanted to ink himself as the individual that changed USC basketball forever, like Patrick Ewing at Georgetown or Sean Elliott at Arizona,” Guillory said.

Mayo didn’t want to attend traditional basketball powerhouses such as Duke, North Carolina or UCLA.

“He said, ‘I want to beat those schools,’ ” Guillory said.

And he wanted to do it in a city such as Los Angeles.

“It’s a pro town,” Guillory said. “He didn’t want to go to a small city where if he spit on the ground, the neighbors and everyone would know.”

But he also saw how USC football players Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush used this market as a springboard to stardom. (Bush had $50 million in endorsements lined up before he first touched the football in an NFL game.)

Mayo, who played in Ohio and is now at Huntington (W. Va.) High School, has been to Los Angeles twice with his AAU team. He also came to USC for an unofficial visit in August. Guillory said Mayo took an instant liking to Los Angeles, thanks in part to a visit to the Venice boardwalk “on one of those popping Sundays.”

Mayo already appears to have the elements this town loves.

The Hype: It’s been building for years. He was mentioned in Sports Illustrated as a seventh-grader. He made the cover of Dime magazine as a junior. Floyd even used the “L” word.

“I think he has a chance to be the best perimeter player who’s come out since LeBron,” Floyd said.

There are stories of his battles with Michael Jordan at Jordan’s annual camp in Santa Barbara. “He was giving Jordan havoc,” said a friend of mine who worked at the camp.

Mayo stoked Jordan’s competitive fires when he walked up and told him, “I’ve got you.”

Yes, he called out the Greatest Of All Time, like that.

He inspired some vintage Jordan efforts, and classic MJ trash-talk.

“You’re the best player in high school,” Jordan told him. “I’m the best in the world.”

The Limited Release: This show is only expected to last one season. Then he’ll be on to the pros. That’s not a shock to Floyd.

“He will be here for one year and gone,” Floyd said. “That’s my hope for him, that’s his hope for himself.”

Everyone’s being realistic here.

“Let’s just say it on the front end,” Floyd said. “Why make it a charade, why answer that question all year long?”

Maybe other prospects will consider USC. At least one current Trojan is considering sticking around to see what it’s like to play with Mayo -- “Yeah, big time,” Nick Young said.

The Dramatic Flair: Mayo was supposed to announce his intentions at a news conference over the summer. It didn’t happen. Apparently he had to get his mother on board. She’s since signed off on it.

Then the word was that he would give a verbal commitment to USC during his official visit this weekend. He went one better. He sent in the fax that changed everything.

Make some room, Tom and Katie, Paris and Britney. There’s a new celebrity coming to town.

J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read more by Adande, go to latimes.com/adandeblog.