The Rock Chalkboard

One thing for every Big 12 coach to prove in 2021
The fact is that no team in the conference has emerged as a true contender on the national level. Oklahoma has made it to the College Football Playoff under Riley, but has yet to get over the hump and come out of the playoff as victorious. Some teams in the league haven’t even sniffed contending in the conference in years. No matter what the criticism is against each coach, there are some clear things that need to be proven in 2021.

New Kansas DC Brian Borland talks scheme change, goals in Lawrence
“When we went to Buffalo, they were a 3-3-5 team, so I think we’ve had some good experience at making that transition,” Borland began. “I’ll answer all your questions about scheme and fronts and all the stuff you want, but quite honestly to me, what’s really important: There’s a whole bunch of other defensive concepts and philosophies and things that you need to insist on and stretch way beyond the Xs and Os part. If you’re not doing those other things right, then you don’t have a chance no matter what you’re doing.”

New Kansas OC Andy Kotelnicki describes offense, key principles
“It’s a multiple pro-style offense that uses spread components and concepts,” Kotelnicki said. “The optimal word there is multiple. I think in today’s day and age, regardless of what level of football you coach, ... you’re going to be in a situation where the ‘system’ you’d say you're going to recruit to — or at the NFL level that you would try to draft to — ... doesn’t always exactly line up [with the personnel]. So you have to be multiple enough on offense to be able to utilize the personnel we have. That’s our Day 1 approach.”

Lance Leipold announces more staff additions, Rob Ianello as Kansas GM
Ianello, who previously coached at Kansas, was the wideouts coach and associate head coach at Buffalo. Here are the other additions that were announced:

Director of football operations: Michael Painter (previously at Buffalo in the same role)

Director of player personnel: Grant Murray (previously at Buffalo in the same role)

Senior special teams analyst: Taiwo Onatolu (previously Buffalo's DEs coach)

Senior defensive analyst: Jordan Peterson (previously KU's safeties coach)

Dick Vitale reacts to Kansas landing Remy Martin
Kansas basketball appeared to land the missing piece for a potential national championship caliber squad on Monday when Arizona State guard Remy Martin committed to the Jayhawks. Kansas was familiar with Martin, both from recruiting him out of high school and because Martin led Arizona State to back-to-back wins over the Jayhawks in 2017 and 2018, averaging 15.5 points, 3.0 assists and 3.5 steals over those two games.

CBS Sports updates Top 25 and 1 after big transfer commitment
The Jayhawks soar six spots from No. 9 following the addition of former Arizona State guard Remy Martin. While he still plans to go through the NBA Draft process, Martin shapes up to be an enormous addition for Bill Self and Co.

Bits o Chalk

Former Louisville basketball assistant coach Dino Gaudio federally charged for attempt to extort program
According to the charge, Gaudio, during an in-person meeting with Louisville officials on March 17, "threatened to report to the media allegations that the University of Louisville men's basketball program had violated [NCAA] rules in its production of recruiting videos for prospective student-athletes and its use of graduate assistants in practice, unless the University of Louisville paid [Gaudio] his salary for an additional 17 months or provided the lump sum equivalent of 17 months of salary."

Los Angeles Lakers defense braces for Golden State Warriors' 'head of the snake' in Stephen Curry
The Los Angeles Lakers' defense, ranked No. 1 in the NBA during the regular season, will be tested by the league's leading scorer, Stephen Curry, right away in Wednesday's play-in tournament game against the Golden State Warriors (10 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Saudi Arabia formally proposes World Cups every two years
The proposal "requesting a feasibility study to be carried out on the impact" of playing both tournaments every two years will be put to the FIFA annual meeting of 211 member federations. The congress is being held as a remote meeting on Friday.

NBA playoffs 2021 - Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics' reward for advancing is the Brooklyn Nets
This season has been a slog for the Boston Celtics. There was a spate of coronavirus-related absences that shut down practice for a stretch, a knee injury that hampered Kemba Walker, nine straight games missed by key midseason acquisition Evan Fournier and, finally, a devastating, season-ending injury to Jaylen Brown.

Eraser Dust

Israeli Warplanes Pound Hamas Tunnels In Gaza : NPR
In one attack overnight, more than 50 warplanes pounded the southern part of the Gaza Strip, according to the Israeli military. The target was a vast network of tunnels, which Israel says is used by Hamas to shuttle weapons and people.

New York’s Attorney General Joins Criminal Inquiry Into Trump Organization - The New York Times
“We have informed the Trump Organization that our investigation into the organization is no longer purely civil in nature,” Fabien Levy, a spokesman for Ms. James, said in a statement. “We are now actively investigating the Trump Organization in a criminal capacity, along with the Manhattan D.A. We have no additional comment at this time.”

Europe Agrees to Reopen to Vaccinated Visitors - The New York Times
The European Union agreed on Wednesday to reopen its borders to visitors who have been fully vaccinated with an approved shot, or those coming from a list of countries considered safe from a Covid perspective, its executive said, putting the rules in place just in time for the summer tourist season.

America’s unemployment system failed when it was needed most. Can it be fixed? - POLITICO
Economist Stephen Wandner knows as much about the nation’s unemployment system as anyone. He was a longtime official in the Labor Department. He’s written dozens of academic articles and is a leading researcher on the future of joblessness benefits in America.

Bitcoin plunges to $40,000 as China widens its crypto crackdown - CNN
The world's most heavily traded cryptocurrency plunged 10% Wednesday to trade at $40,728 per coin, according to Coindesk, a news and information website specializing in crypto assets. That's bitcoin's lowest level since February. It also represents a 36% drop since hitting a record $63,347 in April.

Internet Has Meltdown After Taco Bell Removes Fan-Favorite Menu Item: 'My Life is Over'
After making its long-awaited return earlier this year, the fast food giant announced that the Quesalupa will no longer be available.