More Lack of Institutional Control in the USC Athletic Department

Former USC star O.J. Mayo accepted benefits in violation of NCAA rules from a Los Angeles events promoter while in high school and his one year of college, according to a former friend of the star freshman guard.

Louis Johnson said Sunday on ESPN's "Outside the Lines" that Mayo was given around $30,000 in cash and various gifts over the past four years from Rodney Guillory, a 43-year-old promoter in L.A. Johnson also alleged that Guillory acted as a runner for BDA Sports Management and estimated that BDA provided around $200,000 to Guillory, who gave a portion of the money to Mayo.

In exchange for the payments and gifts, Mayo gave a verbal agreement to let BDA represent him when he turned pro, according to Johnson.

Mayo is the second high-profile USC athlete to be accused of improper benefits in two years. The NCAA is still investigating findings of a Yahoo! Sports report into former Heisman Trophy-winning running back Reggie Bush, who, along with his family, appeared to receive financial gifts of close to $100,000 from marketing agents.

Mayo denied any wrongdoing in a statement to ESPN, saying: "I have been through investigations by the NCAA, the Pac-10 and USC before I attended school and during the time I have been here. … If these claims were true I would suspect they would have been discovered by one of these organizations."