The Rock Chalkboard

Kansas CB transfer focused on two SEC rivals after Tennessee visit
Tennessee is battling one of its SEC East rivals for the services of Kansas cornerback transfer Karon Prunty. The Freshman All-American and All-Big 12 honorable mention performer in 2020, when he started all nine games for the Jayhawks, is one of the top available players currently in the NCAA transfer portal, and the Vols hosted him on an official visit to Knoxville this weekend. Prunty said after the visit he is down to Tennessee and South Carolina and plans to make a decision “sometime next week.”

How Dajuan Harris earned Bill Self's trust in redshirt-freshman season
"To give credit to Dajuan, ... he's always been a spark," McCormack said. "Any time Dajuan gets in a game, his plus/minus is one of the greatest probably in the country. He comes in defensively, has great active hands, has great court vision, makes the right plays. He does it all. He really helps the team in every way possible."

Joel Embiid criticizes NBA officiating
“I just felt like it wasn’t called both ways, especially because of the minimal contact that they get on the point guard, and when it comes to us, we don’t get the same thing,” Embiid said after the game, according to ESPN. “So, I just want it called both ways. If you’re going to call something like nothing on their point guard, it should be the same way and call the same thing [for] me when I get — if I get — touched.”

New AD Travis Goff saw KU basketball win national title in person
Funny enough, Goff had some pretty good seats for the shot — "no thanks to the Williams Fund," he joked.

Bits o Chalk

American Allyson Felix, 35, rallies in 400 meters, qualifies for her fifth Olympics
"Man, it has been a fight to get here," Felix said during a postrace interview on NBC. "And one thing I know how to do is fight, so I just wanted to do that all the way home."

Devin Booker records first career triple-double as Phoenix Suns take Game 1 without Chris Paul
"We put him on FaceTime. He's our leader. We lean on him for a lot," Booker said. "We know how disappointed he is and frustrated he is he couldn't be out here for Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, especially knowing his past history around this time. But we had him all the way through. We brought him in the locker room, had him in our after-game huddle. He's proud of us. He's ready to get back, he's working and we can't wait to have him."

Ben Simmons shoulders blame after Philadelphia 76ers' second-round playoff exit - 'Offensively, I wasn't there'
"I ain't shoot well from the line this series," Simmons said following the Sixers' 103-96 Game 7 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. "Offensively, I wasn't there. I didn't do enough for my teammates. ... There's a lot of things that I need to work on."

Tokyo Olympics to allow limit of 10,000 local fans in venues
Organizers set a limit of 50% capacity -- up to a maximum of 10,000 fans -- for each Olympic venue, and officials said that if coronavirus cases rise again the rules could be changed and fans could still be barred all together. Spectators from abroad were banned several months ago, and now some local fans who have tickets will be forced to give them up.

Atlanta Hawks shock Philadelphia 76ers en route to second Eastern Conference finals in 50 years
"Everybody is fired up," Collins said. "We've worked all year to be in moments like this. Game 7, I feel like we all had each other's back. We couldn't have wanted anything else more than we did tonight. We pulled through for a victory."

Eraser Dust

Democrats face filibuster stress test on key voting bill. It's not just Manchin and Sinema.
"What I'm open to is considering and looking at any proposed changes in the rules. And I will ultimately make a decision based on: Do I feel — is this in the best interest of the state of Arizona and the country?" he said. "And I'm not looking for something that is in the best interest of just Democrats."

US coronavirus: The states at risk of an aggressive and more dangerous Covid-19 variant. - CNN
About 45.1% of the US population is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, CDC data showed, and in 16 states and Washington, DC, that proportion is up to half. But some states like -- Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Wyoming -- have fully vaccinated less than 35% of residents.

Bartender's fake receipt saves women from being hit on by 'creep'
When the other customer repeatedly hit on the women, the Hawaiian shirt-wearing barkeep handed Allie a note that looked like a receipt, but read: “If this guy is bothering you, put your ponytail on your other shoulder, and I will have him removed. He’s giving me the creeps.”

NYT Outs Tucker Carlson As Anonymous Source to Many Journalists
Several journalists at non-Times organizations told Smith about the information Carlson had relayed to them, including unflattering stories about Trump and information about the internal politics of Fox News.

Bigfork restaurant brings glitz and glam of 1920s to town
“There's obviously bars and restaurants in town but there's really nothing quite as unique as this," said Aaron Killian, the owner of Showtyme Act 2. The speakeasy will be called 1908, and it will embrace the history of the building that used to be a bank.