O.J. Mayo and Kevin Love should make NBA destiny wait

There are 12 minutes left in the first half, and I’m still waiting for this city’s great NBA prospect to score his first point.

In a college game.

Against Oregon.

O.J. Mayo has done just about everything else for USC, the center of attention as promised.

He’s had one of his dribbles stripped. He’s had another dribble stolen.

He’s fouled a guy after missing a rushed shot. He’s stood around while another guy sneaked behind him for a rebound and a basket.

He’s been out-hustled and outfought and generally overshadowed for every one of those 12 minutes.

In a college game.

Against Oregon.

And everyone said that by coming to USC for only one year, the NBA’s next great star would not be getting an education?

Oh, no. He’s learned something, all right.

Even after Thursday night when he eventually scored 32 points and led USC to an 81-75 victory, the lesson is still clear.

Mayo has learned he needs to stay in school another year. And if he hasn’t learned it, well, the NBA folks certainly have learned it.

Once projected as the country’s best freshman recruit and a No. 1 overall NBA pick, Mayo has fallen to No. 12 in a mock draft run by the respected NBADraft.net.

Once the headliner, he has since been overshadowed by at least a half-dozen other freshmen in the country, guys such as Kansas State’s Michael Beasley, Memphis’ Derrick Rose and Indiana’s Eric Gordon.

Mayo is not the best freshman prospect in the Pacific 10 Conference – that title belongs to Arizona’s Jerryd Bayless.

Mayo might not even be the best freshman prospect in Los Angeles, but that’s debatable.

Because, you see, the same education is taking place across town.

Unlike Mayo, UCLA’s freshman Kevin Love is a fundamental team player who could help lead his group to a national title.

But, like Mayo, Love could clearly use another college season.

Like Mayo, he entered the season as one of the top two or three freshman recruits in the country. But he has since dropped to No. 17 in the NBADraft.net draft.

He is not even the best pro prospect on his team, as guards Russell Westbrook and Darren Collison are being projected to be taken ahead of him.

Hmm. Westbrook has spent two years with Ben Howland; Collison has spent three.

Mayo and Love have shown signs of greatness. But, quite often, both have been just decent college players, a level that would thrill most college freshmen, but certainly no immediate platform to the NBA.

O.J. Mayo doesn’t need any more hype, he needs more Tim Floyd.

Kevin Love doesn’t need an agent, he needs another summer with Howland.

“We all need to back off the hype,” Floyd said. “We need to say, ‘O.J., we know how good you are, but we also know how good you could be.”

Floyd still has hope that Mayo could stick around.

“If O.J. is going to be a top-five pick, I’ll kick him out,” Floyd said. “But if not, well, he’s never been a guy to follow the crowd. Maybe he’ll look at guys like Brandon Roy and Tim Duncan and see what staying in school did for them.”

Mayo needs Floyd.

He needs to learn to be a better passer. He needs to learn how to play tougher defense. He needs to figure out how to create his own shot.

Mayo was once so big, he actually recruited USC. He considered himself so famous, he refused to give Floyd his cellphone number.

Twenty-five games later, other numbers ring more true.

Only seven times this season has he had more assists than turnovers. Only nine times has he scored more than 20 points.

In his two previous games before Thursday, he scored a combined 18 points with 15 turnovers and two assists.

“The thing is, all these players can be better if they stay in school longer,” Floyd said. “That goes against the thinking of a lot of kids today, but it’s proved to be true.”

Across town, Love is beset by some things he can’t control (he’s not 6-10 as advertised, he’s more like 6-8), and some things he should control (he needs to learn to play Howland-style defense).

He’s considered the best big passer since Wes Unseld, yet, like Mayo, in only seven games he has had more assists than turnovers.

He will make his NBA living near the basket, yet Sunday, USC’s Taj Gibson blocked several of his shots and was more athletic.

None of this would be considered proper criticism for the average college freshman.

But Mayo and Love are part of a new group of kid hotshots who are supposedly using college like fancy restaurant-goers use the bar.

They’re hanging around only long enough for someone to summon them to the main dining room.

Well, both of these kids could use another plate of appetizers.

As for Mayo and Oregon, the kid didn’t score his first points until there were 11:06 left in the first half.

But he found his shooting touch later and, with 2:05 left, he made a 30-foot, three-pointer to clinch the win.

Overall, a good night. Fans chanted his name. USC had fun.

“These games are always fun,” Mayo said. “But on nights like these, you realize how much it can be.”

Across town, Love was doing his thing, scoring 11 points with nine rebounds in UCLA’s 84-49 rout of Oregon State.

With March beckoning for these young and talented teams, Thursday night felt like a beginning.

For their sakes more than ours, here’s hoping Mayo and Love aren’t looking at it like the end.

Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.