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SPORTS
Best friends cast as foes
Southern California's O.J. Mayo shoots over Oregon's Joevan Catron during a game earlier this year.
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HUNTINGTON -- Anyone who has kept up with basketball in the Tri-State over the past decade always thought O.J. Mayo and Bill Walker would end up in the NCAA tournament together.
And as Sunday's NCAA Selection show ended, the Huntington natives fulfilled the past expectations of everyone, although it is in a capacity that no one ever thought.
Today, the best friends will be trying to end each other's season as Mayo's USC Trojans take on Walker's Kansas State Wildcats. Tip-off is at 7:10 p.m. at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb.
In a strange, yet fitting twist of fate, Mayo and Walker talked on the phone prior to the selection show and Walker listened in as Mayo called the shot for the best friends to meet on-court, just like Walker had heard him call so many shots on the court before.
"I was thinking the same thing he was -- wouldn't that be something? -- and it just happened like that," Walker said in a story by the Los Angeles Times newspaper.
It is only proper that the players from Huntington would have their time on the court at the collegiate level together after dominating the national prep circuit for so long.
While most kids were still playing on the swing set in middle school, Mayo and Walker were busy drawing comparisons to being the high school equivalent of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. One of the players alone was a marvel to watch, but together they were nearly unstoppable.
As eighth-graders, they led Rose Hill Christian School in Ashland to the Kentucky Sweet 16. In high school, they led North College Hill in Cincinnati, Ohio, to back-to-back state titles.
But then the unthinkable happened.
Bill's ball got taken away.
The OHSAA determined that he had exhausted his eligibility and it led to a spiral of events that ended with Walker at Kansas State, Mayo at Huntington High and the duo being divided.
The duo may have well ended up together at Kansas State, but Bob Huggins -- longtime friend of both -- defected from the Wildcats to return to West Virginia to become coach.
The irony bordered on the absurd.
Mayo and Walker had ventured out of West Virginia to continue basketball and the coach they thought they may play for had ventured back in.
Everyone involved knew it was a business decision and that's why nothing was really said. In the meantime, Mayo and Walker also had their own business to attend to and they have. That is why they are meeting today in Omaha.
Their roles are virtually the same. Mayo is expected to carry the Trojans on his back and create shots for himself and his teammates. That is why he leads the Trojans in four categories, including his 20.8 points per game.
Meanwhile, Walker's role is virtually the same as his high school days. He puts up solid numbers at 15.8 points per game and has the ability to elevate like few in the game, even after his second knee operation last year.
And he is the perfect compliment as a No. 2 scorer in a potent offense behind Michael Beasley, who is putting together one of the best freshman seasons in NCAA history.
Yes, not much has changed at all for these two Huntington natives, even though it all seems so different now.
Their games are still potent.
The excitement they bring to the court is still electrifying.
And when they meet, they will still be two best friends doing what they have loved since diapers were part of their daily attire.
They will simply be wearing different uniforms.
