In response to our item regarding ESPN’s focus on the O.J. Mayo case after pretty much ignoring the much bigger Reggie Bush situation, a reader points out to us that our old pal (we mean that genuinely, not sarcastically) Gregg Doyel of CBSSports.com presaged the problems with Mayo even before Mayo even began his senior season in high school.

Wrote Doyel at the outset of his eerily prescient piece from 19 months ago:  “Still stinging from 2005 Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush’s collegiate dealings with agents and marketing reps, Southern California can expect more NCAA scrutiny if star basketball recruit O.J. Mayo becomes a Trojan in 2007.”

Doyel pointed directly to Mayo’s relationship with Rodney Guillory, the man who allegedly gave Mayo $30,000 in cash and benefits. 

More importantly, Doyel’s item makes it clear that USC was at least on notice of the potential challenges that Guillory’s interest in Mayo might cause. 

Wrote Doyel:  “USC athletic director Mike Garrett didn’t return numerous calls and e-mails for this story.  But Garrett did get the message to the USC coaching staff — and eventually to Guillory himself — that CBS SportsLine.com was investigating Mayo’s relationship with Guillory.  How do I know?  Guillory told me.”

In our view, the ESPN report(s) on the matter merely put the exclamation point on a sentence that Doyel wrote long ago, and that USC by all appearances never bothered to read.