The Rock Chalkboard

Kansas women shut down Arkansas, head to WNIT’s Fab Four - KU Sports
Arkansas (24-13) couldn’t get its shots to fall in the first quarter, especially from deep, draining just 1-of-7 3-pointers, good for 14% shooting. Kansas used that cold shooting to its advantage and extended its lead early with a 15-2 scoring run that spanned the first 7:42 of play.

Do-everything forward Chandler Prater uses energy, IQ to help lead Kansas women’s basketball on deep postseason run - KU Sports
“She plays her ass off all the time,” said KU coach Brandon Schneider after his team knocked off Nebraska 64-55 on Thursday night to advance to the final eight of the WNIT. “And it’s just a relentlessness about her that I think has increased here in this postseason.”

KU linemen Logan Brown, Spencer Lovell enjoying their adjustment to a new style and new surroundings - KU Sports
“It’s definitely different, and it’s awesome,” Brown said after practice this week. “I’m trying to make this new technique into a habit, where you don’t have to think about it and you can just go out and play.”

BLOG: Busy week of Kansas basketball departures a win-win for both sides - KU Sports
For the players — good dudes with high character and the hope of untapped potential — it represents an opportunity for a fresh start with a new program, one that may better suit their specific skill sets and needs.

Bits o Chalk

True March Madness: Bracket chaos leads to unprecedented Final Four field
The quartet of teams who will play for a championship in Houston next weekend includes three making their Final Four debuts. Florida Atlantic hadn’t won an NCAA tournament game before this March. San Diego State had never advanced beyond the Sweet 16 until Friday. Miami didn’t get to the Elite Eight for the first time until last season.

2023 NFL Three-Round Mock Draft: Will Levis falls and a surprise team trades up for him; Bucs nab Round 2 QB - CBSSports.com
We're through the college all-star games and the NFL combine, and former Vikings general manager Rick Spielman and I were on the road last week to watch three of the top four quarterbacks throw at their pro days.

Clark’s ‘mind-boggling’ 41-point triple double sends Iowa into women’s Final Four | NCAA tournament | The Guardian
“I dreamed of this moment as a little girl, to take a team to the Final Four and be in these moments and have confetti fall down on me,” said Clark, who is a Iowa native.

Eraser Dust

Some colleges are eliminating freshman grades by 'ungrading' : NPR
"Grades are not a representation of student learning, as hard as it is for us to break the mindset that if the student got an A it means they learned," said Jody Greene, special adviser to the provost for educational equity and academic success at UCSC, where several faculty are experimenting with various forms of un-grading.

Israel in chaos as workers strike, ports close and officials protest over Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan
Israel was paralyzed after hundreds of thousands of people stopped working Monday to protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's unprecedented plans to overhaul the country’s judicial system.

Pennsylvania candy factory explosion: Death toll climbs to 7 as all missing individuals are accounted for, officials say | CNN
The explosion erupted shortly before 5 p.m. Friday, leveling the R.M. Palmer Co. facility and stunning West Reading – a community of about 4,500 people that has been home to the chocolatier’s operation for more than six decades.

21 Jump Street director Christopher Miller responds to Kanye West's Jonah Hill statement | indy100
“Um… thanks for watching?” he tweeted alongside a screengrab of Ye’s post.

FVCC culinary students open pop-up barbecue restaurant | Daily Inter Lake
The restaurant, Smolder, will be open for lunch beginning Wednesday, April 12. The restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday throughout the month of April.

Firms Say Musk's $1,000 a Month for Twitter Checkmarks Is 'Outlandish'
But for accounts signed up to Twitter Verified Organizations, the cost is much steeper. For $1,000 a month, businesses, non-profits, and government institutions will receive either a blue, gold, or grey checkmark. It'll cost them an extra $50 a month, plus any applicable tax, for additional affiliated business accounts in the US, Twitter says.

Millennials are turning 40 — and they're changing travel as we know it
“When it comes to nearly all travel behaviors, millennials are the generation most likely to engage — and they do so often,” said Lindsey Roeschke, travel and hospitality analyst at Morning Consult. “For example, 18% of millennials have taken three or more domestic flights in the past year, compared to 10% of Gen Xers and 6% of baby boomers.”