On the same day Reggie Bush's 10-year NCAA-mandated disassociation with the USC program ended, so too did former star basketball player O.J. Mayo.
The program announced Wednesday that Mayo, who was also serving a 10-year disassociation, has been reinstated. Mayo was a one-and-done phenom with the Trojans, averaging 20.7 points and 4.5 rebounds per game before entering the draft in 2008.
Welcome back, O.J. Mayo!
— USC Men's Basketball (@USC_Hoops) June 10, 2020
The highest drafted player in program history has officially been reinstated. pic.twitter.com/kMIcIYWYXJ
The program was forced to vacate 21 wins during Mayo's time at USC and also served a postseason ban and suffered loss of scholarships after Mayo allegedly accepted improper benefits during his brief stint at USC. The Mayo investigation was combined with Bush's as part of a larger probe into USC's athletic programs, the reason both of their disassociations ended the same day. The lifting of the disassociation for both comes exactly a decade to the day their disassociations were formally handed down.
To this day, Mayo stands as the highest-drafted USC basketball player in program history after going third overall in 2008 to the Memphis Grizzlies. He was named to the All-Rookie First Team in his first season. He went on to play with the Dallas Mavericks and Milwaukee Bucks before he was dismissed and disqualified for two years from the NBA in 2016 for violating the terms of the league's anti-drug program.
