Buzzards beginning to circle around Tim Floyd

Thanks to alleged payments made to O.J. Mayo, the USC basketball program is on thin ice.

Multiple reports Monday claim USC basketball coach Tim Floyd made a $1,000 cash payment directly to former O.J. Mayo associate/handler/slime-ball Rodney Guillory.

Louis Johnson, another former Mayo associate, told Yahoo! Sports, among others, that he witnessed the transaction.

He has also previously said Guillory funneled more than $30,000 to Mayo before he enrolled at USC and while he played for the school.

Tim Floyd could be the fall guy for what is most likely a larger institutional problem.

USC’s basketball program will almost certainly end up on probation. The only question is how severe the punishment will be.

Right or wrong, Floyd now becomes the face of the scandal. I wouldn’t be shocked if he is fired before the start of the season.

The loss of talented freshman DeMar DeRozan to the NBA and the possible loss of Daniel Hackett and Taj Gibson to the draft means USC is headed for a down year.

Floyd has been somewhat of a disappointment at USC, failing to get his talented teams to play up to potential.

Johnson’s accusation of Floyd’s misconduct could be the break the school needs to show him the door.

Meanwhile, Guillory is in big, big trouble.

He is being investigated by the FBI, IRS, and U.S. Attorney’s Office in connection with a sickle cell foundation that wasn’t really a sickle cell foundation.

Guillory has been investigated at least twice by NCAA for his dealings with college players, including in 2000 after allegedly showering USC F Jeff Trepagnier with improper benefits.

Oddly, Guillory continued to be a fixture around the USC program until Mayo left school after his freshman year.

I refuse to believe the USC athletic department had no idea what was happening behind the scenes.

Stay tuned.