Like every red-blooded American sportswriter, I am now compelled to follow the best basetball prodigies coming out of nursery school. So I have, of course, been hearing about O.J. Mayo for many years now. It was mostly tales of his prodigious talents along with a few hints of misconduct or, at least, questionable judgment. (As befitting a star of his stature, basketball suspensions were lifted, drug charges were dropped.) But earlier this year I finally got my first real introduction to the next great O.J. in a New York Times article by Lee Jenkins.

It detailed how an emissary from Mayo showed up in the offices of University of Southern California basektball coach Tim Floyd in the summer of '06 who had heard of Mayo but, because he had no hopes of recruiting such a stud to his second-tier program, hadn't sent him so much as a brochure. Nevertheless, the gentleman informed Floyd that Mayo, a superstar guard from West Virginia, had already chosen USC., viewing the school and L.A. as central ingredients of his marketing vision. Moreover, the coach didn't have to worry about any other scholarships he might have lying around--"don't worry about recruiting, I'll take care of it"--Mayo would bring along some basketball pals.

Mayo is reputed to be bright and academically capable, thus presenting no admissions problem. Still, one might think Floyd would be a little embarassed about this recruiting episode, given recent revelations about problems in the school's high-powered football program. That he might have balked, if only for a moment, after he asked for Mayo's cellphone number and was refused-- told essentially, "Don't call him, he'll call you." But Floyd simply viewed it as a welcome breakthrough for USC. basketball, one that, even if Mayo only stayed a year on his way to the NBA, might finally give the Trojans the prominence to challenge crosstown rival UCLA, longtime home of basketball gods.

So Mayo got U.S.C. and prominent billing (along with UCLA frosh Kevin Love) in SI's college hoops preview. And the story, by Grant Wahl, was even more frightening. Mayo's idol naturally is Los Angeles Lakers supestar Kobe Bryant, who has actually mentored the kid, or at least offered him some hoops advice. And anyone who has watched Kobe's one-man-team game in recent years knows that any advice he has offered is going to be lousy.

Now Mayo is not exactly underconfident or shy about shooting in the first place. But it seems like O.J.'s team was playing pickup ball against Kobe's team last summer when Mayo, who had drilled three straight, passed the ball to an open teammate who then missed what would have been the game-winner. According to SI, Kobe took him aside and chided Mayo for the selfless decision-making: "When you've got it going like that, take the shot…throwing it to him just because he's open doesn't give the team the best chance of winning."

Kobe does know shots; he led the NBA in shots last year, on the way to leading the league in scoring and the Lakers to a 42-40 record. And Mayo is a quick learner. He has put up 59 shots in USC's first three games, 24 more than any of his teammates. Of course, if the team wins, everybody will be thrilled with his gunslinging. But while USC is off to a 2-1 start, the team's home opener suggested it could be a rather bumpy year. Mayor scored 32 points and USC, ranked #18 in pre-season polls, lost 96-81 to Mercer University. Mercer, a Georgia school, is out of the Atlantic Sun conference, which includes another giant-killer, Gardner-Webb, which had upset Kentucky a few days earlier. Mercer, however, has now lost all three games since beating USC, including by 18 points to Ivy non-power Harvard.