Roundup: Arizona initiating 'dismissal process against' Emanuel Richardson

Arizona announced that it has “initiated the dismissal process against” Emanuel Richardson, the men’s basketball assistant coach who was arrested by the FBI Tuesday on fraud and corruption charges (ArizonaWildcats.com). More bad news for the Wildcats, as Rawle Alkins is out 8-12 weeks with a broken foot after undergoing surgery to repair the fracture (CBS Sports).

Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott will chair the Anti-Defamation League's new council to promote positive social change through sports. NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, sports pioneer Billie Jean King and NFL Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott will also be on the council aimed at increasing unity in the sports world, while combating hate, discrimination and bullying.

Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports has this story on Mike Leach’s return to the national spotlight with No. 16 Washington State’s Friday night game against No. 5 USC.

Hey, did you know that Will Ferrell endows a scholarship fund for the USC women’s soccer team? That’s pretty tight, and Graham Hays of espnW has a feature on it. Stay classy, Troy.

Brenda Tracy will be at the Stanford-Arizona State game as part of the Cardinal’s Sexual and Relationship Violence Awareness Day. Tracy, who was raped by members of the Oregon State football team in 1998, calls her program “Set The Expectation,” and Stanford was the first college football team to sign her Set The Expectation Student Pledge.

Doug Haller reports that Arizona State offensive coordinator Billy Napier’s father passed away after a battle with ALS. Bill Napier, a longtime high school football coach in Georgia, was 60.

Dirk Facer of the Deseret News has this story on Nate Watterson, a 15-year-old with cystic fibrosis signing a ceremonial letter of intent with Utah men’s basketball. Good on ya, Runnin’ Utes.

Adam Jude has done the research and lets us know that Washington has the most efficient offense in college football, averaging 1.33 plays per point scored in 2017. Stanford and Oregon also rank in the top 10.

Here’s another story from Brent Schrotenboer of USA TODAY Sports on the late Colorado running back Rashaan Salaam. The 1994 Heisman Trophy winner killed himself last December, and his girlfriend, Shelley Martin, gave an interview to USA TODAY Sports to talk about her relationship with Salaam and his final days.

Chris Johnson of Sports Illustrated considers UCLA to be one of the 10 most watchable college football teams in 2017. Washington also cracks the list.

Go behind the scenes with Cal football strength and conditioning coach Torre Becton in this preview for Cal’s episode of “The Drive” that airs Thursday night at 10 p.m. PT on Pac-12 Network.

Here’s a snippet of a video feature on Oregon State’s Seth Collins finding his role on the football field, from starting quarterback to wide receiver. The full piece will air on the Pac-12 Football Pregame Show Saturday at 12 p.m. PT on Pac-12 Network.

Shawn Medow of the Daily Emerald writes that Oregon’s offense needs to become more consistent. Usually, the offense explodes in the first half and dries up in the second half a bit, but it was somewhat reversed in the loss to Arizona State.