The Rock Chalkboard

KU women's basketball surrenders early lead in loss to Texas | KUsports.com
Despite jumping out to an early lead, the Kansas women’s basketball team dropped an 85-77 decision to Texas on Wednesday at the Frank Erwin Center.

Silvio De Sousa, Bill Self give statements on brawl, suspension
The Big 12 announced suspensions for Silvio De Sousa and David McCormack (in addition to two K-State players) for their role in a brawl that marred the ends of Tuesday's Sunflower Showdown, a blowout KU basketball win.

Big 12 announces suspensions for K-State/KU basketball brawl
Just shy of 24 hours following the brawl between the in-state rivals, the Big 12 and commissioner Bob Bowlsby announced that KU's Silvio De Sousa will be suspended 12 games and David McCormack will be suspended two games.

2 KU football assistants leaving program after 1 year | KUsports.com
After one year at KU, Hecklinski is moving on to reunite with head coach Brady Hoke at San Diego State. Hoke, head coach of the Aztecs from 2009-10, was rehired by SDSU earlier this month. Hecklinski worked for Hoke in the past at Michigan, San Diego State and Ball State.

Board of Regents chair, student body president concerned by behavioral issues within KU men’s basketball program | KUsports.com
After Tuesday night’s basketball brawl, the University of Kansas student body president expressed concern over the pattern of “violence” surrounding the program and the Board of Regents chair suggested he would be discussing the matter with university CEOs.

Bits o Chalk

Pelicans' Zion Williamson erupts for 17 in 4th, sits out final minutes of debut
For three minutes and eight seconds, Smoothie King Center turned into Zion Williamson's playground. The rookie's burst in the fourth quarter saw him give the New Orleans Pelicans' fans everything they wanted to see and more.

Arrest warrant issued for Antonio Brown in Florida battery case
The Hollywood (Florida) Police Department issued an arrest warrant for Antonio Brown Wednesday night following allegations that he and his trainer attacked a moving company truck driver near Brown's Florida home.

Eli Manning retires after 16 NFL seasons
New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning is retiring after 16 seasons and two Super Bowl MVPs.

Dwyane Wade says Jimmy Butler is the right kind of 'crazy' for Heat
Former Miami Heat great Dwyane Wade isn't surprised that new Heat swingman and his good friend Jimmy Butler is having so much success with his old team. Wade, who spent 15 seasons playing in Miami, believes that Butler has the right kind of "crazy" to fit in with the Heat's culture.

Lakers' Dwight Howard wants Kobe Bryant's help in dunk contest
Dwight Howard has already repaired his relationship with the Los Angeles Lakers. Now he's looking to mend a bridge with an old Lakers teammate by pairing with him at All-Star weekend next month in Chicago.

Eraser Dust

Coronavirus latest: Quarantine in China expands beyond Wuhan - The Washington Post
Major Chinese cities, including the capital of Beijing and virus-hit Wuhan, have banned all large gatherings over the coming Lunar New Year festival, the most important holiday on the Chinese calendar, in an effort contain the rapidly spreading outbreak.

Loneliness is rising: Younger workers and social media users feel it most
Three out of every five adults, or 61%, report that they sometimes or always feel lonely, according to the second annual Cigna U.S. Loneliness Index, which is based on a survey of 10,000 adults. That’s up 7 percentage points from the 54% reading reported from the company’s first loneliness survey a year ago.

The numbers

Meghan and Harry will still owe taxes to the IRS, wherever they go
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are getting closer to severing financial ties with the Royal Family, but there’s one entity that will always be part of the picture: the IRS.

Trump Removes Pollution Controls on Streams and Wetlands - The New York Times
The Trump administration has finished a new rule that rolls back environmental controls on many wetlands and intermittent streams, delivering a win to rural landowners.

The article clipping tool I use for these things doesn’t work on the LA times site but they did a good piece on how the NCAA is worried about athlete compensation and how the public thinks they suck based on internal documents