Tim Floyd, where do you go now?

(AP)

While it now comes as no surprise that there may have been a payoff made in order to obtain the services of OJ Mayo for the University of Southern California, it was an incredible shock to learn that Tim Floyd himself allegedly made payments to Rodney Guillory, a handler of Mayo.

The $1000 dollar transaction that was made right before Guillory and a member of OJ Mayo’s “inner circle” headed off to the NBA All-Star weekend in Las Vegas has enveloped Tim Floyd in a story that does not look to have a happy ending.

Somewhere, Lute Olsen and the Arizona Wildcats just let out an incredible sigh of relief.

After flirting with not only the Arizona job as well as taking over for John Calipari at Memphis, Tim Floyd made what seemed to be a miraculous choice in choosing to finish what he started with the USC men’s basketball program. After a reasonably good regular season last year, Floyd & Co seemed poised for an NIT berth; however, after running the table and capturing the Pac-10 Tournament championship, the Trojans slipped into the big dance. Not only did they make it to the dance, but they upset a tough Boston College team in the first round.

Things were looking up for not only Tim Floyd, but also for the Trojan basketball program in general…and then the storm hit.

It remains to be seen whether or not the accusations of Louis Johnson will be substantiated and derail Tim Floyd’s promising stay at Southern California. The big question of whether Floyd will be able to finish what he started with the USC basketball program remains on the minds and tongues of Trojan faithful and pundits everywhere. It will be interesting to see if Floyd can rebound and continue to move the program forward.

With Daniel Hackett hiring an agent, and DeMar DeRozan and Taj Gibson also declaring for the draft to fulfill their NBA dreams, Floyd already has the odds stacked against him. The last thing he needs is to be tied directly to the large brewing storm surrounding OJ Mayo.

It remains to be seen what will happen to Tim Floyd; but, after a great finish to last season, it is hoped that Floyd will remain at USC, will find a way to put all of this behind him and will continue to coach great basketball.