to make the leap straight from high school to the NBA, but the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NBA and its players instituted a rule that a player must be at least a year out of high school before he can enter the NBA, effectively curtailing those plans. On July 5, 2006, it was reported by ESPN that he would attend USC. Mayo enrolled at Huntington High School in Huntington, West Virginia for the 2006–07 school year. He formally committed to USC in November 2006. In January 2007, Mayo allegedly assaulted referee Mike Lazo after being ejected from a Huntington High game vs. Capital High School at the Charleston Civic Center. In accord with West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission rules, Mayo was suspended for two games. However, due to allegations that Lazo had overreacted and faked the incident, a temporary restraining order was signed by Cabell County Circuit Court Judge Dan O'Hanlan, temporarily lifting the suspensions on Mayo and five other players suspended due to incidents at that game. However, shortly after, the restraining order was nullified, and Mayo was suspended for three games, a punishment that Mayo described as "fair". Awards and honors Mayo was selected by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association as the 2007 recipient of the Bill Evans Award for the state's boys basketball player of the year. Mayo led the state in scoring for the 2006–2007 season at 28.4 points per game. Runner-up in the voting was teammate Patrick Patterson. On March 17, 2007, Mayo led Huntington High School to its third consecutive Class AAA basketball championship in the state of West Virginia with 103–61 rout of South Charleston. Mayo finished with a triple-double: 41 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists. He graduated in May 2007 and signed a letter of intent to enroll at USC. He scored a 29 on the ACT, placing him in the 95th percentile nationally. College career Mayo had given Kansas State a soft verbal commitment to play for them, but retracted it when head coach Bob Huggins announced he would take the same position at West Virginia. Frank Martin, by whom Mayo was recruited, was named head coach. Former teammate at North College Hill High School Bill Walker opted to stay and play for Martin. Mayo enrolled at the University of Southern California (USC) in the summer of 2007, taking two classes. While waiting for the season to