In keeping with what Chad Ford has recently written, O.J. Mayo's college coach, Tim Floyd, tells Mike Trudell of the Timberwolves' official website that Mayo has been something of a role model on and off the court:

The day he got here, he started waking our players up at 7 a.m. to go over and lift weights. After they finished he made sure everybody stayed and worked on their individual skills. They'd go to class after that ... In the evenings they'd go over to play against the pros over at UCLA. He had the same type of work ethic throughout our season. He always stayed late; he'd come over in the evenings and work on his shot. The kid truly does love basketball. ...

A lot of these guys when they finish their season and declare for the draft, they don't complete their academics. O.J. stayed and completed his academic work because he cared about his teammates next year. He didn't want us to lose a scholarship -- he felt like it was the right thing to do. He's been outstanding as a young man from day one, he's loved by the people here at this University, he treated everybody with respect, we never had an incident off the court, and for all those reasons, I'm appreciative and grateful and I'm glad we had an opportunity to coach him.