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 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 and freshman Michael Beasley and old high school teammate Bill Walker.

Mayo did not return for his sophomore season, opting to instead enter the 2008 NBA draft.
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 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 and freshman Michael Beasley and old high school teammate Bill Walker.
Mayo did not return for his sophomore season, opting to instead enter the 2008 NBA draft.
O. J. Mayo