BDA vice president Calvin Andrews briefly represented Mayo, who is expected to be a lottery pick in the upcoming NBA draft, before they severed ties last month. Mayo and BDA have denied any wrongdoing and Guillory has been unavailable for comment.
Unlike the federal probes, Murphy said the NCAA and Pac-10 investigation was "clearly looking more toward anything USC may have done or turned a blind eye to." USC could face sanctions including a forfeiture of victories, probation, scholarship losses or a postseason ban if it is proved that Mayo accepted money in violation of NCAA rules.
Spokespeople for the NCAA and Pac-10 said they would not comment on potential or ongoing investigations.
Salerno said investigators would attempt to determine whether USC was "negligent of institutional oversight" for ignoring or failing to sufficiently scrutinize Guillory, who helped deliver Mayo to USC after being linked to inappropriate contact with former Southland-based players Jeff Trepagnier at USC and Tito Maddox at Fresno State in 2000.
Rick Evrard, an Overland Park, Kan., attorney who advises universities on NCAA rules, said institutions generally have a "heightened responsibility" to protect themselves from agent representatives who have previously engaged in documented wrongdoing.
"Once an individual is involved in a violation, or if the institution had some kind of notice that this individual hasn't been completely within the rules or regulations, the [NCAA] committee on infractions will ask the institution, 'What safeguards did you take to prevent this from happening a second time?' " said Evrard, a former NCAA investigator who added he was not speaking specifically about the USC investigation.
"Are you letting him into your student lounge? Are you letting him sit behind the bench? And [if so], the committee will ask, 'Why? You know he's been a source of problems in the past. Why is the institution giving him that kind of access?' "
Todd Dickey, a senior vice president for administration at USC, declined to comment when asked what access USC had granted Guillory. Trojans basketball Coach Tim Floyd has not returned phone calls seeking comment.
Murphy said that Johnson made his accusations in an attempt to fix a system in which adults exploit underprivileged star athletes such as Mayo. Johnson is writing a book about the problem.
