Kenan Thompson's Friday News and Views

Kenan Thompson was 1/2 (well, perhaps 3/4) of the tandem for the movie "Goodbuger" based on the memorable, though often annoying Goodburger skit on Nickelodeon. Kenan and his counterpart Kel teamed up to take orders, albeit often finding ways to mess things up. Thompson was also famous for "All That" recurring sketches such as "Ishboo" the strangely behaving foreign exchange student and his bathtub moments as Pierre Escargot, teaching us everyday french with a rubber duck in his hand.   Thompson turns 34 years old today and has continued his success in sketch comedy by landing a gig with Saturday Night Live. Although I think he does one of the absolute worst sketches in SNL history ("What's up with that?"), he has found a way to graduate from what I consider to be SNL Jr. (All That) to the real deal. Happy birthday, Kenan. I'd like to think that you are somewhere tonight jumping on a trampoline like you used to do in the opening credits for "All That."   Now on to the news...   - **Update: Late last night (or early this morning, rather), Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com reported that Nerlens Noel said the NCAA has not contacted him directly and that he's in "great position to qualify." As we've said on here before, at this point you shouldn't lose any sleep over the status of Nerlens Noel. Unless someone other than Pete Thamel tells me to worry, I'm not going to worry. And neither should you.   - The recruitment of 2013 UK target Troy Williams continues to become more complicated. Williams, who was set to make his decision last week (which would have been UNC), put off the decision which seemed to be a positive sign for Kentucky. Today we found out that Williams has expanded his list, though he still has very positive things to say about his relationship with the coaching staff at Kentucky. Williams' list now includes Florida, Georgetown, Villanova and Louisville. Kentucky and North Carolina are still expected to be in heavy contention for Williams' services.   - Two other Kentucky targets, Wright State transfer Julius Mays and 2012 prospect Amile Jefferson, will likely both be making their college decisions in the next 10 days. The anticipation to add one more player to the roster for next season has been brewing for almost a month now. There seems to be a common feeling among UK fans that everyone is ready for things to be settled so we can relax for the rest of the summer and bask in the glory of the top 2013 recruits who seem to all have Kentucky high on their lists.   - One of the assistant coaches mentioned by Troy Williams as being a huge factor in his favorable position with Kentucky was Orlando Antigua. When recruits discuss their relationship with the Kentucky coaching staff, Antigua's name comes up nearly as often as Calipari's. Kentucky fans have known just how important Antigua is for a while now, but today the national media took notice. Orlando Antigua was named the top assistant coach in the country under the age of 40.  Antigua sent out a tweet this evening graciously crediting those around him:   - On the somewhat opposite end of the spectrum, a list was released by the Sporting News ranking the order of head coaches in college football. Joker Phillips came in at #90 out of 124 total coaches. Not exactly a sparkling ranking for Phillips.   - UK once again led the nation in attendance last season. Kentucky takes home the prize for the 7th year in a row. An NCAA record 885,953 fans watched 40 games this season for the Cats, breaking Syracuse's record set in 1989. Indiana would hang a banner for that.   - Calipari mentioned that the attendance record could be shattered again in the near future, alluding to the distinct possibility that Kentucky will add a neutral site game with a top tier program to the upcoming schedule. Rumors and suggestions floated around today for various scenarios. The most likely option seems to be a regionally-based match up with a team like Ohio State or Cincinnati (rumored to be our Big East Challenge opponent). Nashville or Indianapolis seem to be the most likely destinations if so. A few more drastic suggestions such as a game in a large venue in Texas with a team like SMU or a game in Las Vegas with a team like UNLV have circulated but so far seem less likely. Out of those possible scenarios, a neutral site game with a team like Ohio State, who has become a perennial Top 10 program is the most attractive to me. Between the Sweet 16 classic two years ago and both teams appearing in the Final Four this year, it seems like a good option that would please two supportive fan bases.   - Coach Cal casually dropped the fact that Anthony Davis earned a 3.7 GPA this past semester. Congratulations to Davis. Condolences to Bobby Knight.   - Good luck to the UK men's tennis team, the overall 6 seed, as they compete in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament tomorrow. The possibility exists for a match up on Saturday against none other than the Louisville Cardinals. Go Cats.   - Congratulations to former Wildcats Rajon Rondo and Jodie Meeks for advancing to the next round in the NBA playoffs with the 76ers and Celtics. Meeks didn't see much action, but Rondo had a first half that set the Twitter world abuzz-- including Nerlens Noel who claimed Rondo was the best PG in the NBA.   - If you’d like to be sitting where Tony sits across from Matt on the KSTV set, the final round of the KSTV Casting Call is in LOUISVILLE ON MAY 12 at SAM SWOPE HONDA WORLD from 8-11 am. It is your chance to become a Kentucky sports reporter and cover the Cats for the next year as one of Matt’s co-hosts on KSTV.