The Rock Chalkboard

Kansas lands big man Ernest Udeh, moves to No. 3 in 2022 team rankings
"When it comes to them you talk about the bigs that coach has had in the program and about how successful they have been it is something that you can't ignore," Udeh told 247Sports. "Also when you actually get there, that place when I went there on my visit there was constant talking in practice and everywhere else. The players are tight knit and it is very family oriented from the coaches all the way down. It was a great environment."

Kansas point guard Remy Martin: ‘I want to win.’
For super-senior point guard Remy Martin, choosing to come to Kansas after entering the transfer portal wasn’t a hard decision. The fans, the culture and the coaching staff were all factors, but Martin mentioned something that really stood out to him - winning.

Five-star big man Yohan Traore discusses visits
Less than a year ago, Yohan Traore wasn't on many radars and wasn't getting spotlighted by many websites. Now, he's a top 10 player in the country who will be choosing from among the best programs college basketball has to offer.

Big 12 basketball: Kansas' Bill Self says league will be 'as good as it has been'
Big 12 basketball should be loaded in 2021-22 with three teams ranked in the top eight of the Associated Press Top 25 poll: No. 3 Kansas, No. 5 Texas, and No. 8 Baylor, the reigning national champion. Going further down the list, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech both received votes in the poll despite losing key pieces. Although Kansas enters the season as the favorite, this will be a rugged league with more than half the teams likely making the NCAA Tournament.

Leipold on Bean: ‘He’s kind of plateaued’
In that game — a narrow 17-14 win over South Dakota — Bean missed a few easy throws but looked comfortable in the pocket. He led Kansas to a game winning drive in the last minute and tallied two TD passes.

Border League: Five-star Adem Bona talks Kansas, Kentucky and UCLA visits
“Last year we had some great talent on the front line and we still had really good talent coming off the bench and that was good for me because it was my first year in the States," Bona told 247Sports. "I was adapting to the style of play and it gave me time to kind of rest and catch my breath. Now I know the style of play so I’m already in the game."

Bits o Chalk

Kentucky men's basketball freshman TyTy Washington gets NIL deal with Porsche dealership
The next time point guard TyTy Washington pulls up to Kentucky's campus, the freshman standout will be driving a luxury vehicle that's worth nearly six figures.

Former Dallas Mavericks executive Haralabos Voulgaris compares franchise's dysfunction to 'high school drama'
"I wanted to be a part of something. I wanted to win basketball games," Voulgaris told Pablo Torre on the ESPN Daily podcast. "Changing the organizational structure of the Dallas Mavericks was never something I was interested in unless I was going to be the guy in charge, and I wasn't even sure. I never actually wanted to be the guy in charge until it became clear that the guy in charge didn't want me around. And then I was like, 'Oh, OK, now it's competitive.' ...

Philadelphia 76ers regroup with team dinner before opening romp against New Orleans Pelicans
"It's good to just go out and kinda not talk about basketball and talk about life," said Joel Embiid, who scored 22 points and was able to take the fourth quarter off. "That's also an evolution for me, because I usually, when I used to go on the road, I'd just like to stay in my room and be on the phone and play video games."

Bob Huggins says major conferences should create own college basketball postseason event, ditch NCAA tournament
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- As the collegiate landscape changes amid conference realignment and the NCAA's future remains in flux, West Virginia men's basketball coach Bob Huggins said it's time for the major conferences to split from the other schools and create their own postseason tournament, so they can control the sport's most significant financial stream.

Eraser Dust

The Limits Of Dave Chappelle And Kyrie Irving’s Free-Thinking | Defector
Until his Instagram Live appearance, the self-proclaimed voice for the voiceless had refused to explain himself before eventually communicating his convoluted rationale by way of anonymous sources. He’s not anti-vaccine per se, but he’s not into getting vaccinated, and he seems to shun masks. He’s an advocate for those who could lose jobs and freedom to mandates, but has exhibited scant regard for those who have lost the same things and more to failed efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19. One hint of legitimate insight could be found in the middle of his meandering: “It’s just about the freedom of what I want to do.” That’s a common marker of free-thinkers: extreme self-centeredness, invariably accompanied by delusions of grandeur and persecution. They mistake the regressive for the subversive. So why can’t we stop talking about these assholes?

Brian Laundrie: Strong probability that suspected remains are Laundrie, family lawyer says - CNN
(CNN)The apparent human remains that authorities found Wednesday in a Florida park most likely belong to Brian Laundrie, the missing man whose fiancée Gabby Petito was found fatally strangled last month, the Laundrie family attorney told CNN.

Booster dose of Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine shows 95.6% efficacy in Phase 3 trial, companies say - CNN
(CNN)A booster dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine was found to have a high efficacy -- 95.6% -- against Covid-19 in a Phase 3 trial, the companies announced on Thursday. They noted that "efficacy was consistent irrespective of age, sex, race, ethnicity or comorbid conditions."

House to vote to hold Steve Bannon in contempt for defying subpoena - CNNPolitics
(CNN)The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives is expected to vote Thursday to hold Steve Bannon, one of former President Donald Trump's closest allies, in criminal contempt of Congress after he defied a subpoena from the committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

Extreme heat in cities a growing problem as climate warms, study finds
The risk of extreme heat is a rising threat to fast-growing cities around the world, according to a new study published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Child tax credit: Joe Manchin wants to add a work requirement to the child tax credit. Here's what that would do - CNNPolitics
Extending the enhanced credit is included in Democrats' massive social spending bill. But Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia -- whose support is needed to pass the legislation -- has said he wants to once again require parents to work in order to qualify for the credit, a shift that could exclude millions of the nation's poorest families.

Researchers put an exact date on when the Vikings arrived in Canada : NPR
It's long been known that the Vikings were the first Europeans to make the long journey to the Americas, arriving in what is now Canada sometime around the end of the first millennium.