The O.J. Mayo effect

Their careers already have had a lot of twists. Mayo (left) and Walker attended elementary school in West Virginia, then switched to a private school in Kentucky with an eye on developing their careers.
Dwaine Barnes, a family friend and Amateur Athletic Union coach, became Mayo’s legal
guardian and brought the two players to North College Hill.
Barnes also became the legal guardian for Keenen Ellis, a 6-foot-11 prep player in Indianapolis. Ellis joined the cast at North College Hill but was kicked off the team last season.
Playing in a small-school conference, the Trojans dominated while winning the last two state Division III titles. After the OHSAA ruled that Walker had used up his eligibility, Mayo moved back to Huntington, W.Va., to play his senior season on a stronger team. Ellis is playing for a Philadelphia high school trying to turn itself into a powerhouse.
They came. They won. They left. In the process, they raised concerns.

“Moving kids around when they’re in high school for athletic purposes and to build teams like that — I don’t think it’s good,� Ross said. “You want kids to be in a stable environment.�
A committee of superintendents, principals, athletic directors and coaches reviewed the association’s bylaws and recommended tightening eligibility restrictions. Now, a student’s parents must live in Ohio in order for them to play sports. Previously, having a legal guardian in the state was sufficient.
It’s reminiscent of how the OHSAA tightened travel restrictions after James’ teams at Akron St. Vincent St. Mary played a national schedule with games in big arenas across the country. James’ prep teams were homegrown, so
residency wasn’t an issue with them.
Such star-laden prep teams wind up testing states’ regulations and their resolve to keep the emphasis on using sports for education.
“It’s a small number that we’re talking about,� said Bruce Howard, spokesman for the National Federation of State High School Associations. “But nonetheless, they occupy a lot of the time of our member associations.�
Regulations on travel and residency vary widely from state to state. The associations are wary of attempts to form super teams that advance the careers of a small number of elite players. They’re also attuned to AAU coaches’ growing influence on high school sports.
"It kind of dilutes the whole concept of high school sports when we start working outside of the high school to put together powerhouse teams,� Howard said.

The national federation has only anecdotal information about schools in other states that have tried to build powerhouse teams. Howard said what happened at North College Hill “certainly seems a little unusual.�
Barnes didn’t return a phone message left at his home in West Virginia. Messages seeking comment also were
left for Mayo’s mother and the Amateur Athletic Union.
Folks in North College Hill appreciate the concerns, but have tangible reasons to appreciate their three-year fling with fame.
Before Mayo and Walker moved in, the school was considering charging students to play sports because of budget shortfalls. It made roughly $8,000 off boys’ basketball the year before they arrived.
In the next three years, North College Hill basketball became the hottest ticket in town. The Trojans moved their games to bigger gyms, scalpers tried to corner tickets and fans treated the players like celebrities.
“It was just amazing the amount of people that would come to our games,� said Joe Nickel, in his 28th year as athletic director. “It seemed that every elementary-aged child in the Hamilton County area wanted to see O.J. and Bill play.�
The school made about $50,000 a year during those three basketball seasons, at a school where the annual athletics budget is around $40,000. Nickel figures the money will operate the school’s sports programs for the next 10 years and help it build a new track, replacing the grass-overgrown
gravel oval that rings its football field.

Walker’s loss of eligibility and Mayo’s transfer have forced Nickel to cancel some contracts for games at bigger venues this season and will cost the school about $60,000 in potential revenue.
In all, though, there are no regrets.
“Oh, yeah, I’d do it all over again,� said Nickel, who has the two state championship trophies in his office while the trophy case is reworked. “Although it’s a relief not having the stress, I would have made it through one more year. But it was a great three years for us, and we’re not going to deny that. We’re proud of it.�
So is the community, which has been grappling with issues typical for such suburbs — a tight budget, a changing population, a lack of identity until the basketball stars arrived.
“The last couple of years, I’ll say I’m the mayor of North College Hill and they say, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s where Mayo and
Walker go to school,’� said Dan Brooks, the city’s mayor for the past 23 years. “Whether they loved or hated you, at least they knew you.�
The racially diverse city of 10,100 people got an emotional lift from the team’s success.
“Winning two state championships is great — I can’t understate that — but the bigger thing that happened is the sociological change,� Brooks said. “People literally met their neighbors from two or three doors down at the basketball games. They’d never spoken to them, but now they do.�

The next challenge is to use the city’s high profile to attract businesses and nurture the sense of community that developed in the gym over the last three years. They’ll have to do it without Mayo, who left for a better opportunity.
At Fricker’s, a restaurant and sports bar near the school, patrons are done talking about Mayo’s decision.
“There was so much drama with it, I think everybody got tired of hearing about it,� restaurant manager Macy Goldberg said. “How he left the city behind, nobody cares anymore. Now it’s time for the next chapter, I guess.�

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