"They wanted to make sure if anything happened, don't forget about them," Thomas said.
DeMar, a 6-foot-6 shooting guard, is a McDonald's All-American who averaged 30.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 4.0 steals as a senior. As to what his son's college alternatives might be, Frank DeRozan said, "His main thing is, he wants to go [to USC] and help build the basketball program, but we can't do that with a cloud hanging over the school's head.
"We're just trying to see how things play out. He doesn't want to leave home because his mother is still sick" -- she suffers from lupus -- "and isn't getting any better."
Jermaine DeRozan said the allegations surrounding Mayo have served as a cautionary tale for his brother. "It's good that it happened before it happened to us and the warning signs are out there," he said. He added the allegations have left his brother "scared" and questioning the motivations of those trying to get close to him.
"With this stuff with O.J., our circle is getting a little tighter," Jermaine said.
Frank DeRozan said Guillory once attempted to recruit DeMar to play for his Amateur Athletic Union team, and when his advances were rebuffed, Guillory told other AAU coaches that DeMar was 15 years old when in fact he was 13.
The family then had to go to some lengths to straighten out the discrepancy.
"He was real mad because DeMar wouldn't play on his team," Frank DeRozan said of Guillory. "He went out and lied to a couple of other AAU coaches and said DeMar was older than he was. I said [to Guillory], 'You can't say nothing else to me.' "
Guillory could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, the source of the allegations against Guillory and Mayo told The Times via e-mail Tuesday he would not comment on the situation for now, referring all inquiries to his Los Angeles attorney.
Louis Johnson wrote, "When the appropriate time comes, I will address a lot of the issues that my revelations have recently uncovered."
Times correspondent Victoria Sun contributed to this report.
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ben.bolch@latimes.com
