by Jeff Goodman

Updated: May 14, 2008, 2:10 AM EST 65 comments

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O.J. Mayo has become the current poster boy for those who take advantage of the system (or get taken advantage of by it), but he's just one of many child prodigies who succumb to the pressures and influences at an early age.

It was bound to happen and it's certainly no surprise. Everyone has been looking the other way for years.

The shocking part of the entire Mayo saga is that it took this long for someone to make a serious claim that "runner" Rodney Guillory was paying the USC freshman, using funds he was allegedly receiving from agent Bill Duffy and his company.

Just about everyone in the industry basically knew that the primary reason Mayo went out to USC in the first place was because of a deal that Guillory struck with Trojans coach Tim Floyd and his staff.

Guillory is a West Coast event promoter who wanted Mayo as close as possible, so he could continue to wield the influence he had built up over the last few years with the budding superstar and continue to capitalize financially on his relationship.

I'm not saying that deal between Guillory and USC involved any cash, but without Guillory, there's no chance that Mayo would have spent his lone collegiate season in Los Angeles.

There's plenty of blame to go around in this mess, the least of which belongs to Mayo.

The West Virginia native didn't have much of a chance. No matter how intelligent he is (he did score a 29 on his ACT), this is a kid who basically grew up without a father and his mother was overwhelmed by the circus that has surrounded her son since his middle-school days.

Sources told FOXSports.com that she wasn't in favor of the relationship with Guillory, but she had little choice. In fact, she refused to sign the letter of intent that allowed Mayo to play at USC. Mayo's father, Kenny Ziegler, who has been in and out of jail for most of Mayo's life, wound up signing the letter to allow his son to play for the Trojans.

The NCAA may be short-staffed when it comes to investigative resources, but it should have been aware of this entire situation due to Guillory's previous transgressions with former USC player Jeff Trepagnier and performed a thorough investigation.

Ditto for the Pac-10.

In all likelihood, Mayo should never have been eligible to play college basketball.

But the worst culprit in all of this are the agents and runners such as Guillory, who prey on young men who, in many cases, have little-to-no parental support.

Guillory isn't alone. For nearly every big-time agent, there are numerous runners who are paid in return for helping them land future NBA players.

It's getting out of control.

And these days, it's starting earlier than usual. Many agents employ summer basketball coaches to try and steer their kids to them down the road. The kids are in most cases naive to the entire process and build up a trust with the coaches without ever knowing they're getting a kickback in return for funneling the kids toward specific agencies.

It's unlikely that Mayo was the only elite prospect with a flat-screen television in his dorm room this past year.

The NBA and NCAA recently created an initiative which is targeted to enhance youth basketball programs. The two sides will need to take a close look at how they can attempt to limit the contact between agents, runners and young players.

The one-and-done age limit is just a piece to the overall process. Allowing kids to go to the NBA directly out of high school would help, but it wouldn't completely eliminate the issue. Even if the O.J. Mayos of the world were able to head to the NBA directly out of high school, that wouldn't solve the problem because it's not just the handful of kids who are talented enough to go straight from preps to pros who are being targeted by agents and runners.

It's become a widespread issue. Mayo reportedly received about $30,000 in cash, clothes and other gifts from Guillory. He's not alone.

Should USC coach Tim Floyd and his staff have tried to control the relationship between Guillory and Mayo? Absolutely.

However, the only reason Floyd ever got a player of Mayo's caliber on his campus was because of Guillory. In all likelihood, he just looked the other way and didn't ask any questions.

But Floyd isn't the primary issue here. He's the last line of defense. And sometimes it's just too late by the time these kids ever get on campus.