The Rock Chalkboard

Tamar Bates talks recruiting timeline, Kansas 'virtual visit'
Still, the four-star prospect has seen his phone blowing up throughout the dead period, and he's held a slew of virtual in-home visits, as he put it, with schools like Alabama, Creighton, Northwestern and Oklahoma — as well as Kansas.

Former Grizzlies executive 'willing to bet on' KU's Devon Dotson
KU basketball's Devon Dotson just wrapped up his sophomore year at the University of Kansas. He was a consensus second-team All-American and first-team All-Big 12 standout, and yet most mock drafts have him as a fringe first-round draft prospect.

Film room: Breaking down 2021 KU football commit Andrew Simpson
Andrew Simpson is the newest recruit to announce a pledge to KU football. The Bellflower, Calif. prospect announced his commitment a little under two weeks ago and picked the Jayhawks over offers from Oregon, Utah State and Central Michigan.

ESPN's Medcalf: Jerrance Howard 'one of the best' CBB assistants
"Howard has had a reputation as one of the nation's best recruiters dating back to his time at Illinois. ... The Peoria native is well-connected in Chicago and the Midwest but also had success at SMU under Larry Brown. Bill Self, who coached Howard as a player at Illinois, hired him in 2013, and Howard has continued his recruiting prowess in Lawrence."

KU basketball releases 2020-21 non-conference schedule
As previously announced, the schedule features high-profile clashes with the Kentucky Wildcats and Missouri Tigers, as well as several other major conference opponents. The Jayhawks will play against USC and Colorado out of the Pac 12 and will even square off against Creighton as part of the Big 12/Big East Challenge.

Every Big 12 team's toughest game in 2020
Oklahoma beat Kansas, 45-20 after an incredibly slow start in the first quarter, as the game was tied at 7-7 after one quarter. But Jalen Hurts then flipped the switch and ended up accounting for four touchdowns on the day to coast to victory.

Bits o Chalk

Rays ace Blake Snell says he refuses to play for reduced MLB salary
Y'all gotta understand, man, for me to go -- for me to take a pay cut is not happening, because the risk is through the roof," Snell said while answering questions on his Twitch channel. "It's a shorter season, less pay.

Michael Jordan and the Tragedy of the Bully | The Nation
This is basically the core and heart of the magnum opus that is The Last Dance: the lionization of the idea that winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing, and nice guys finish last. It’s as if Shoah were directed by Vince Lombardi. The Last Dance sends the message to everyone—particularly young ballplayers—that winning in sports and life demands that you be the bully. Everything is justified, if the ends involve confetti and rings. Even hauling off and punching someone smaller than you in the face, as Jordan did with teammate Steve Kerr, is remembered as something closer to a bonding experience—a macho rite of passage—than as an embarrassing loss of temper.

With Hall of Fame father, Redskins' Thaddeus Moss out to forge his 'own identity'
Washington Redskins rookie tight end Thaddeus Moss wants to do what any other pass-catcher does: create separation. The difference is he wants separation from his father's Pro Football Hall of Fame legacy.

In filing, Vince McMahon's attorneys say he fired Oliver Luck 'for cause'
The contract dispute between former XFL commissioner Oliver Luck and league owner Vince McMahon spilled into the public eye Wednesday through a series of filings related to Luck's wrongful termination lawsuit.

Panthers owner optimistic for games with fans
"You won't be playing having full stadiums, but that doesn't mean you can't have some fans in the stadium either,'' Tepper told CNBC on Wednesday. "If you're comfortable being in a closed airplane for a cross-country trip, 18 inches apart, maybe with two seats in between you and being five feet away from each other, you might be comfortable in an open-air stadium.''

Eraser Dust

FBI seizes Sen. Richard Burr's phone in coronavirus stock sales probe
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr turned over his cellphone to FBI agents in response to a search warrant served on him as part of a federal investigation of stock sales he made early in the coronavirus outbreak, NBC News confirmed on Thursday.

Jon Scheyer could be acting Duke basketball head coach next season
As Parrish's article suggests, Coach K could end up watching both games and practices from a distance. Should that indeed become reality, the logical choice to act as head coach from the bench, in the locker room, and on the practice court would be Jon Scheyer.

Account Of Coronavirus Outbreak In China Comes To English-Speaking Audience In 'Wuhan Diary' : NPR
The writer's detailed account of the novel coronavirus outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan, originally published in Chinese as a daily diary as the virus rapidly spread there, becomes available in English on Friday as Wuhan Diary: Dispatches from a Quarantined City. Bits and clips of Fang Fang's writing on the situation in Wuhan made it out of China and into English as the outbreak was unfolding, but now the full account will be available in English.

Flathead Valley farms surviving during COVID-19
"We have a completely different way that we farm now," she said. "We have a completely different method that we use in our pack shed now. And we have a completely different method for distribution now. And we've completed that all, ourselves, within the last six weeks."

Kalispell man gets prison for drunken crash that killed girl | KECI
Brittany Howk said losing her daughter was devastating, but she didn't want Parsons' life to be destroyed by sitting in prison for decades.

Melissa Etheridge says her 21-year-old son, Beckett, has died after he "succumbed" to opioid addiction - CBS News
Singer Melissa Etheridge announced Wednesday that her and filmmaker Julie Cypher's 21-year-old son Beckett Cypher, has died after losing his battle with opioid addiction.

Tom Hanks dragged into feud between son Chet and Tekashi 6ix9ine
Hitting out at his continued popularity, Hanks wrote on Instagram: “Don’t be fooled by social media. That dude is SCARED SHITLESS but has no choice but to laugh and make light of it cuz he knows he’s a marked man for the rest of his life either way.