MORE FROM THE WEB
More fan contributions from Philly.com Sports partner Bleacher Report
Southern California is imposing sanctions on its basketball program for violating NCAA rules involving former player O.J. Mayo. The university's investigation found rules were violated during Mayo's one season with the Trojans in 2007-08 under former coach Tim Floyd.
The sanctions announced yesterday call for a 1-year ban on postseason play following the current regular season, including the Pac-10 Conference tournament; a loss of one scholarship for this season and the 2010-11 season; a loss of one coach permitted to engage in off-campus recruiting during the summer of 2010; and 20 fewer recruiting days (from 130 to 110) allowed for the 2010-11 academic year.
Get Your Villanova Wildcats Gear Here
The school said that because of Mayo's involvement with Rodney Guillory, who under NCAA rules became an USC booster due to his role in Mayo's recruitment, USC will vacate its 21 victories during the 2007-08 season.
Floyd abruptly quit in June following allegations that he gave $1,000 in cash to Guillory, who helped steer Mayo to the Trojans. Louis Johnson, a former associate of Mayo and Guillory, has previously alleged Guillory received hundreds of thousands of dollars from a sports agency that he partially funneled to Mayo.
Floyd, now an assistant with the New Orleans Hornets, has never addressed the allegations involving Mayo, who now plays for the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies.
The NCAA has ongoing investigations of USC for alleged recruiting violations under Floyd and for alleged improprieties involving Heisman Trophy-winning running back Reggie Bush.
Kevin O'Neill took over for Floyd and has guided the Trojans to a 10-4 record, including 2-0 in the Pac-10, and an eight-game winning streak.
"I think the university did the right thing in self-imposing sanctions. I respect and understand the action that was taken," O'Neill said in the statement. "While it is unfortunate that our players won't have the chance to compete in the postseason, that just makes every game for us now a postseason game."
In games yesterday:
* At Penn State, Trevon Hughes scored 18 points and No. 23 Wisconsin (12-2, 2-0 Big Ten) defeated the Nittany Lions (8-6, 0-2), 63-46. Talor Battle scored 15 points for Penn State, which has lost 11 straight to Wisconsin.
* At Duke, Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith each scored 22 points as seventh-ranked Duke (12-1, 1-0 ACC) posted a 74-53 win over No. 21 Clemson (12-3, 0-1), extending the Tigers' misery at Cameron Indoor Stadium to 13 straight losses.
* At Kansas State, Jacob Pullen had 23 points and 10 rebounds and No. 12 Kansas State (13-1) beat South Dakota (6-7), 91-69.
* At DePaul, Chris Wright scored 18 points, Austin Freeman had 17, and No. 13 Georgetown (11-1, 2-0 Big East) used its typically tough defense to beat DePaul (7-7, 0-2), 67-50.
* At St. John's, Sharaud Curry scored a season-high 26 points, leading Providence (9-5, 1-1 Big East) to a 74-59 victory over St. John's (10-4, 0-2).
* At Michigan, DeShawn Sims scored 28 points and Manny Harris added 24 to lead Michigan (7-6, 1-1 Big Ten) to a 73-64 win over No. 15 Ohio State (10-4, 0-2). Jon Diebler scored 17 points for the Buckeyes.
* At North Carolina State, Chandler Parsons' 75-foot three-pointer at the overtime buzzer lifted Florida (11-3) over the Wolfpack (10-4), 62-61.
* At Wake Forest, Ishmael Smith scored a career-high 28 points and Al-Farouq Aminu had 26 points and 17 rebounds as Wake Forest (11-2) pulled out a 96-92, double-overtime victory over Xavier (8-5) in the Skip Prosser Classic.
