begin, he played pickup basketball at the UCLA men's gym against NBA players such as Kobe Bryant, Sam Cassell, Kevin Garnett, Mike Dunleavy, Jr., D. J. Augustin, Jason Kidd, Adam Morrison, and J. J. Redick. Mayo earned All-Pac-10 first team honors. In the 2008 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball tournament, the Trojans lost to UCLA, featuring Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook, in the semi-finals. Both Mayo and Love were selected to the All-Pac-10 tournament team. In his NCAA Tournament debut with the Trojans, Mayo scored 20 points as USC was beaten by Kansas State. Mayo did not return for his sophomore season, opting to instead enter the 2008 NBA draft. Improper benefits and rules violation On May 11, 2008, ESPN reported that a former "confidant", Louis Johnson, revealed on ESPN's TV show Outside the Lines that Mayo received numerous gifts in violation of NCAA rules. The report stated that Mayo received the gifts from Rodney Guillory before and during his tenure at USC. Guillory is said to have received the money from the Bill Duffy Associates Sports Management (BDA). In April 2009, the NCAA combined its investigations of Mayo and former running back Reggie Bush into a single probe of the Trojans' athletic program. On January 3, 2010, USC announced that it had determined Mayo was ineligible for the 2007–2008 season because he had received improper benefits, and had thus forfeited his amateur status before ever playing a game for USC. As a result, USC vacated all 21 of its wins from the 2007–08 season, dropping its record to 0–12. A vacated game does not count as a win for the other team, but is officially treated as having never happened. USC also withdrew from postseason consideration (including the Pac-10 conference tournament) for the 2009–10 season. Professional career Memphis Grizzlies (2008–2012) On June 26, 2008, Mayo was selected 3rd overall in the 2008 NBA draft by the Timberwolves. Later that day, he was traded, along with Marko Jarić, Antoine Walker, and Greg Buckner, to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Kevin Love, Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal, and Jason Collins. Mayo was a part of the Select Team that helped get the U.S. national team ready for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Mayo was the runner-up for the 2008–09 NBA Rookie of the Year Award, finishing second behind Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose. On November 1, 2009, Mayo scored a