Mayo plans to return next year, unless. . .

The heralded freshman guard said Tuesday afternoon when he met with the media at Heritage Hall that he intended to return for a second year of college unless he was guaranteed to become a lottery pick in the NBA draft -- a proposition that for now is considered likely.

"Right now, I plan on staying more than one year unless my situation changes and I have an opportunity to make a living for my family," Mayo said. "Right now, I'm focusing on my education, and I'm hoping next year if I do return -- which I plan on -- I'd like to go into business management and real estate investments."

Mayo noted that he could suffer an injury or fail to meet expectations, developments that would force him to seriously consider returning to college for another season.

"I'm working hard, but I could maybe not have a good year," he said. "You never know. I don't really want to look ahead at that. I want to focus on this year.

"If I have an opportunity to be a lottery pick and take care of my family, then I would most certainly have to look at that. But right now education-wise, I'm planning on coming back next year."

Coach Tim Floyd said he would encourage Mayo to leave for the NBA if he was projected to be a high first-round draft pick because it would be irresponsible to allow him to return and risk suffering a career-threatening injury.

Mayo said his mother, Alisha, who was initially reluctant to allow him to attend college across the country from their home in Huntington, W.Va., has softened her stance in the wake of violent outbursts in the neighborhood.

"Back at home it's getting real rough," Mayo said. "A lot of people are getting shot and there's a lot of bad activities going on. She's like, 'I never thought I would be happy for you being 3,000 miles away.'

"The only thing she was worried about was that she always heard USC was in . . . a bad neighborhood. But you have campus police, and they do a great job of patrolling our university, and everyone looks out for each other on this university. No one will really let anything bad happen to you while you're on this campus."

Mayo said he hoped his mother could take a break from her job as a nurse's assistant -- she works nine hours a day six days a week -- and travel to Southern California to attend several USC games. Mayo's friends and family have already planned to charter two buses and attend USC's game against Memphis in the Jimmy V Classic on Dec. 4 at Madison Square Garden in New York.