Didn't think so, but imagine the surprise generated by a Louisville Courier-Journal story last week in which the last line of the article quotes Mayo as saying, "I plan on being a Cardinal."

Presuming he wasn't talking about the St. Louis professional baseball team, and considering he was in Louisville for a summer basketball game at the time, it sounded strangely like Mayo was naming his college before his sophomore year of high school.

Not so, says his grandfather and AAU coach, Dwaine Barnes.

"He didn't say that," Barnes said. "That guy (reporter) just took a shoulder shrug whatever way he wanted to take it. Why in the world would a 16-year-old know where he wanted to go to college? We saw it, and we laughed."

That's not to say Mayo isn't interested in Louisville or a host of other schools at this point, including Cincinnati, Connecticut, West Virginia and North Carolina, according to Insiders.com. But it would be mind-boggling for the nation's top-rated sophomore prospect from North College Hill to commit anywhere this early.

LOOK WHO'S BACK: Don't be surprised if former Xavier guard Dave Young has his name selected Thursday late in the second round of the NBA draft.

After being dismissed from the Xavier basketball team in December 2002, Young stuck around campus and got his criminal justice degree the following May. He then played out his final year of eligibility in relative obscurity at North Carolina Central, a traditionally black school near Durham, where he averaged 22 points and shot high percentages from the field and free throw line.

But Young really started to catch the eye of NBA scouts after the season when he was the MVP of an all-black all-star game in Atlanta. Since then, he has traveled around the country and will have worked out for 11 teams by draft day. Seattle, Los Angeles and San Antonio each will have seen him multiple times.

Most teams like Young's toughness, says his agent, Brian Elfus.

"He's determined," Elfus said. "He's got a mental makeup I've never seen in a client. And he shoots the ball extremely well."

Young reportedly has outplayed pro hopefuls such as Tim Pickett, Kirk Snyder and Rickey Paulding at the individual workouts but was not issued an invitation to the Chicago predraft camp because he came on the scene relatively late.

The Rockets and the Lakers put out the initial feeler calls on Young, remembering him demonstrating some potential during his three years at Xavier.

Seattle, which has shown plenty of interest, took a second look at him in a workout against Western Carolina's Kevin Martin.

"A lot of teams are talking about him in the second round," Elfus said.

If Young is not drafted, at least one of the teams for which he has worked out is expected to invite him to summer camp.

STILL LOOKING: Xavier is still trying to schedule a home opener at Cintas Center after a proposed deal to open against UNC-Asheville fell through.

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E-mail ddow@enquirer.com