Plenty of schools boast talented family lines that have helped them win titles. Yet few families possess the overwhelming dominance of the Kempin brothers, a Utah triumvirate who are all ranked as the top tennis player of his respective age group in the state.

Utah tennis phenoms the Kempin brothers

As chronicled by the Salt Lake Tribune, 15-year-old Brendon Kempin and his two younger brothers, 13-year-old Ryan and 12-year-old Conner, are all virtually unbeatable with a tennis racket. While only Brendon has completed a high school season -- he finished as the runner-up in Class 3A in 2010 as a freshman -- all three are expected to contribute for Juan Diego (Utah) High's fiercely competitive program in future years.

The fact that the Kempin brothers are all staying in state for their high school years is a significant development in itself. Most young tennis prodigies with the Kempins' skills would seriously consider leaving traditional schools for a future at a tennis academy like the one run by Nick Bollettieri in Florida, or the New York-based club at which John McEnroe has begun to tutor young star pupils.

That's not the case with the Kempins, in large part because their parents are much happier with the family traveling across the Rocky Mountain region as a pack of psuedo-nomadic tennis prodigies than split up their pack too early.

"We've decided not to interrupt the golden years," Kevin Kempin, the boys' father, told the Tribune. "We take them to camps in California and tournaments all over, but at the end of the day we want them here to be together as a family."

Entering the 2010 season, Reid Vaenuku was known for being one of the more reliable starters on one of the nation's most explosive prep football offenses at Euless (Texas) Trinity High (that's the same high school program that Madden 11 used to help promote it's release and which was featured in a 2007 Gatorade commerical, in case you've forgotten). A year later, he's earned regional fame for something a bit more serious, and heroic: Saving his brother's life in a fire.

According to WFAA-TV in Dallas, Vaenuku -- who graduated from Trinity in May -- saved his younger brother Keio after a house-engulfing fire at the Vaenuku family's abode began in Reid's room. Among seven Vaenuku children, Reid watched his cell phone charger short-circuit and burst into flames, eventually engulfing his room and spreading from there throughout the house.

Former Euless Trinity tight end Reid Vaenuku

While other members of the family responded to Reid's calls of "Fire!", his younger brother Keio -- who is currently with the Trinity football program that Reid recently departed from -- thought the calls were a joke and went back to bed.

When Reid counted family members and came up with eight instead of nine, he didn't hesitate before running back into the house of flames to rescue his younger sibling.

"When I came in I just ducked down to where the air was just so I could be ready to run out if anything happened," Reid Vaenuku told WFAA. "They said the roof could have caved in, but I wasn't thinking about that ... just trying to come in and get him out."

The elder Vaenuku did that without hesitation, thanks in part to a litany of leadership training he's put himself through. The recent graduate is already an Eagle Scout, and the Boy Scouts of America plan to honor him with the rare Honor Medal with cross palms designation for his late July familial heroics.

Shortly after he was fired in late July, former University of North Carolina coach Butch Davis found himself again at the center of controversy when it emerged that he had offered his own son a football scholarship with the Tar Heels without first consulting with university officials.

East Chapel Hill quarterback Drew Davis, the son of former North Carolina coach Butch Davis

While some speculated that the timing of the statement from chancellor Holden Thorp that officials hadn't been consulted before quarterback Drew Davis was offered a scholarship was an attempt to pile more blame on the elder Davis after he had been kicked out the door, the entire episode still highlighted some of the larger issues that had emerged between Davis and the higher ups in the school's administration.

The offshoot of Davis' dismissal was this: Drew Davis' position with the program was suddenly uncertain, and Butch Davis suddenly wouldn't get to see his son play in North Carolina's Kenan Stadium from the sidelines.

Yet, as the high school football gods are wont to do, the elder Davis did get a chance to see his son play in Kenan Stadium on Thursday, though he had to do so while sitting alone in the stadium's upper deck. According to the News & Observer, Davis was allowed entrance into Kenan for Chapel Hill (N.C.) East High's scrimmage against Enloe (N.C.) High.

While general fans at the game all sat in the stadium's lower bowl, Davis was allowed to take a seat alone in the upper deck by stadium security guards, who then refused to admit any other fans who might have wanted to probe his thoughts on his recent UNC past. The former college and NFL coach saw his son toss two touchdown passes -- one of 25 yards and another from 8 yards out -- and two interceptions in the 60 minute scrimmage which marked his return from an injury suffered near the midpoint of the 2010 season.

A handful of current North Carolina players also allegedly attended the scrimmage to check out the son of their former coach.

"He started a little slowly, but he picked it up as the game progressed," East Chapel Hill coach Bill Renner told the News & Observer. "He made some really good plays with his feet, and he ran with the ball really well."

Interestingly, Renner's son, Bryn Renner, is the current starting quarterback at North Carolina, a factor which makes his comments on Davis commitment to North Carolina -- and the school's sudden ambiguity about whether his scholarship offer would be honored -- quite revealing. While he wouldn't delve into the school's role in the younger Drew's now questionable football future, he did say he was impressed with the way his rising senior leader has handled the additional pressure and scrutiny.

High school junior Brett Bowden, who has Down Syndrome, may not be allowed to play for his Hobbton (N.C.) varsity football team because of his age, but another team is openly campaigning to get his services.

According to North Carolina ABC affiliate WWAY, the head coach of the Reno Barons, an independent professional indoor football team in Nevada, wants Bowden to be a part of his team.

"I have a real opportunity here in the position I'm in in football to help someone who loves the game as much as I do," Barons coach James Terry told WWAY. "To really help a man and a family who gets more from this than I ever did.

"I played professionally and collegiately, and I envy this kid because I think he gets more out of this sport and more out of being part of this team than any of us could possibly imagine."

Hobbton High football player Brett Bowden

While the opportunity to have Bowden travel to Nevada to be a part of Barons is undoubtedly a win-win for the team (any free publicity for an independent league professional football team can't be bad), it also seems to be a genuinely spontaneous offer from an organization that was moved by Bowden's unfortunate plight.

For their part, the Bowden family reportedly hasn't decided whether to accept the offer, though Brett Bowden's mother, Pat Bowden, said she was shocked and moved by the coach's thoughtful proposal.

In early August, former NBA All-Star Shawn Kemp found himself back in the news, thanks to the hoops success of his son, Shawn Kemp Jr., who is headed to the elder Kemp's old stomping grounds to attend the University of Washington.

O'Dea basketball player Jamar Kemp

On Thursday, another member of Kemp's rather large and geographically spread family earned his father's public praise when the former NBA star told the Seattle Times that his 13-year-old son, Jamar, will attend Seattle (Wash.) O'Dea High. The decision caps an open period where it was undetermined where the younger Kemp would play.

"I think it's a good fit," Shawn Kemp Sr. told the Times' Mason Kelly. "Our family's got a pretty big history at O'Dea. It's a good situation for our family."

While it's too early to know if the younger Kemp will achieve the success of his father or elder half brother, he's certainly off to a good start. The powerful guard has deceptive speed for his 5-foot-11, 179-pound frame, and he is expected to add more height during his high school years.

In his time with the Seattle Speed Elite AAU program (whose figurehead is Atlanta Hawks guard Jamal Crawford), Jamar Kemp reportedly showed a surprising knack for refined ball skills, a talent that could make him an extremely versatile recruit as he adds height in his later years. That factor also has his father convinced he will eventually turn into a top-flight point-forward prospect.

"He's put in a lot of work," Shawn [Sr.] said. "He's a pretty good player. My son at the UW, Shawn Jr., is more of an inside player. Jamar is more of a finesse player. He's a really good shooter. He dribbles the ball very well, more of an outside guy, kind of a point-forward type of player."

The spate of new television networks affiliated with different NCAA conferences knew that they wouldn't get a chance to broadcast high school games for at least a year. Now it appears that they may never get that chance.

Mock television set for the new Longhorn Network

According to a variety of sources, the NCAA officially ruled that networks affiliated with individual schools or individual conferences will not be allowed to broadcast any high school events. The decision was based on the logic that televising events on those networks would provide their affiliated colleges with an unbalanced recruiting advantage.

The NCAA's decision goes far beyond the temporary, one-year ban on televising high school events that was agreed upon by Big 12 athletic directors at a meeting at the start of August. And while the NCAA's ruling will also affect schools in the Pac-12 and Big 10, the clear catalyst behind the move was the Longhorn Network, which had announced plans to broadcast a slate of 18 high school football games earlier in the summer.

In the meantime, NCAA President Mark Emmert told the Austin American-Statesman that a long-planned summit on university and conference-affiliated television networks would go forward as planned, even with the issue of high school broadcasts now settled.

"What we really need to do is get a better sense of the lay of the land," said Emmert, adding that the summit "is really just an educational meeting to provide education for our staff and to begin to get our arms around this issue and understand it more thoroughly."

On Tuesday, Gurdon (Ark.) High sophomore Montel Williams died after collapsing an evening football practice. Given the heat that players had endured in Arkansas (and across the South) throughout summer football training, it was assumed that heat was, at the very least, a contributing factor in Williams' death.

It now appears that may not be the case. According to Arkansas-based KATV, a preliminary autopsy has found that Williams had a previously undiagnosed heart condition, a genetic trait that was likely the cause of his death.

According to KATV, Williams initially went down on to a single knee while running wind sprints at the end of the Tuesday evening practice, then collapsed altogether.

While it may still be some time before a final cause of death is determined, the Gurdon school community has rallied around the football program in its time of need. With the first day of school for the district scheduled for Monday, it was announced that grief counselors will be made available to

In a shocking decision, the Illinois High School Association board of directors has refused to issue a waiver to a high school football player seeking to play in his school's first game who missed the start of preseason training while away on Army basic training in Georgia.

Paxton Buckley Loda running back and linebacker Eddie Nuss

According to the Paxton Record's Cody Westerlund, Paxton-Buckley-Loda star running back and linebacker Eddie Nuss, who is a rising senior at the school, has been forced to miss nearly all of PDL's preseason training because he is still in the midst of Army basic training in Fort Benning, Georgia. He won't return until August 19, which is only one week before the school's football season opener.

That seven day preparatory period falls short of the 12 days of practice that the IHSA requires all student athletes to go through before participating in a varsity football contest. Knowing that Nuss' practice time could be an issue, the family had a lawyer draw up a signed liability waiver that would have cleared the IHSA and all affiliated groups from any responsibility if Nuss was hurt in the season's opening game, but the IHSA board rejected the waiver citing, "concern for the person's well-being."

Paxton Buckley Loda running back and linebacker Eddie Nuss in his army fatigues

"There's this overriding safety issue," IHSA executive director Marty Hickman told the Record. "Our sports medicine committee continues to feel that being in shape and being in football shape are two different things. We've had this issue a number of times. It's been brought to the board's attention, and they've consistently said that they're not interested in modifying this policy.

"Maybe something more from the person [could offer further protection for the IHSA]. But really at the end of the day, it's a combination of that and concern for safety that led the board to believe our currently policy should be enforced."

Not surprisingly, Nuss' father thinks both the IHSA's final ruling -- and the reasons behind it -- shouldn't apply to his son, who is in the midst of intense physical training.

"Four days a week, [Eddie Nuss] runs five miles with his gear and pack on," Pat Nuss, Eddie's father, told the Record. "That's an  extra 20-30 pounds in 100-plus degrees. He'll be in better shape than any kid on the football field when he's out of basic training."

That day will come soon, though there is little chance for the younger Nuss to compete on the opening weekend barring a dramatic turn of events, or a court injunction against the IHSA. That second option remains a possibility, and is one that the family may take advantage of, though Nuss' father told the Record that he can't afford to pay thousands of dollars in prospective legal fees.

The drive for additional review of the issue has even been pushed by the local state senator for Paxton, Shane Culta, who brought the issue to the IHSA board and expressed frustration with the sense of hypocrisy he drew from board's final decision.