Bob Huggins knew about O.J. Mayo's money
Bob Huggins has a reputation, perhaps undeserved, of being a recruiter willing to linger just above the level where the rules begin to get fuzzy. His graduation rate at Cincinnati (27%) was abysmal, and he's had a spot of trouble with the law himself. Huggy Bear's not exactly a paragon of higher education.
And even he knew that taking O.J. Mayo was a naughty, naughty idea, according to Huggins assistant Brad Underwood (via FanHouse):
Brad Underwood told the Konza Rotary Club this morning that Mayo was on the phone with Huggins, "begging to come here" around the time of national letter-of-intent signing day a year ago. Huggins told him no, Underwood said, because he thought Mayo would get in trouble because of money funneled to him and a friend prior to enrolling in college. [...] Publicly, Mayo said he chose USC over K-State. But Underwood today indicated that Mayo was saying up to the last minute that he wanted to come to K-State to be with Huggins because of their long ties. Huggins, though, said, "We're not going to take you. You'll never pass," in reference to NCAA amateur clearinghouse rules.
I remain convinced that O.J. Mayo taking a little money is, in context, not such a huge deal. It happens. But if you're as good as Mayo is, and Bob Huggins is scared of your transgressions, you are doing some incredibly brazen rulebreaking.
Which brings us back to Tim Floyd. What on Earth was he thinking?