O.J. Mayo is coming back to the Tri-State — but he won’t be playing for the school many thought he would.

Mayo, the nation’s top high school basketball, announced he will not attend South Point High School this year, and will instead transfer to Huntington (W.Va.) High School, The Ashland (Ky.) Independent reported.

School for Huntington High begins today; and although Mayo was not officially enrolled there, he is expected to begin classes at the school today, according to published reports.

Rumors of Mayo’s return to the Tri-State area began to surface when South Point High School athletic director Jan Keatley reportedly told U.S.A. Today that Mayo had inquired about transferring to South Point, but his family ultimately decided against it.

Mayo, who’s mother lives in South Point, also has a brother, Todd, who will be a freshman on the Pointers basketball team this season.

Mayo, a 6-foot, 5-inch senior had been enrolled at North College Hill High School in Cincinnati, where he helped lead the school to two Ohio Division III state titles.

Huntington High School, a powerhouse in its own right, has won the past two state titles in West Virginia’s AAA class.

Mayo — who was named Mr. Basketball in Ohio in 2006 and Associated Press Division III Player of the Year for the second straight year —

spent two years at Rose Hill Christian Academy. Mayo led Rose Hill to the Sweet 16 as an eighth-grader, averaging 20.5 point a game.

In 2003, he average 31 points a game and in 2004 he averaged 28.1 points a game with 8.1 assists per game and 7.7 rebounds a game.

Mayo has repeatedly been compared to LeBron James, the high school standout who is now playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers.