Much has been made about recruiting young athletes for high school football and basketball programs at successively younger ages. Still, what Tyreke Johnson is on the verge of may be a new threshold.

Trinity Catholic 7th grade football star Tyreke Johnson — Trinity Catholic football

As reported by MaxPreps, Johnson is the younger brother of DeAndre Johnson, a top quarterback prospect out of Jacksonville (Fl.) First Coast School. Johnson earned national acclaim in both of his first two seasons, has started each and every game of his high school career and already holds a host of Division I scholarship offers. DeAndre Johnson has already committed to Florida State and stands as the coup of the Seminoles’ current recruiting class of 2015.

DeAndre Johnson’s younger brother Tyreke is still in seventh grade, but according to coaches, he’s already on the verge of receiving many of the offers that DeAndre Johnson began receiving two years later.

It would be a stretch for any school to offer a scholarship to a seventh grader, even if they had a dominant skill or starred at a position like quarterback. That’s what makes the younger Johnson’s rise all the more remarkable: He doesn’t even know where he’ll end up playing in high school.

So far, Tyreke has played at quarterback, running back or in the defensive backfield. He could even be a wide receiver. He’s a great athlete, but that’s about all anyone can confirm at this point.

Still, MaxPreps reported that Tyeke Johnson is truly on the precipice of a monumental recruiting breakthrough. No position player has ever received a Division I scholarship offer while in the seventh grade, with quarterback David Sills the lone seventh grader to receive scholarship attention.

That could all change with Tyreke, who is reportedly already receiving major recruiting interest from the likes of Florida State, LSU, Miami, Ohio State and Clemson.

Most professional athletes use their day off to sit and relax, whether they focus their attention on movies, video games or other more productive efforts. Rays outfield Sam Fuld takes those productive efforts to a new level.

Sam Fuld, in a navy winter hat, still fits in with the Phillips Exeter baseball team — Twitter

As noticed by USA Today, Fuld spent his day off before Tampa’s series in Boston practicing with his former high school squad at Phillips Exeter. Fuld tweeted a photo of himself with the Phillips Exeter squad, which you can see above.

Before anyone worries that Fuld was jet hopping on a single day off just to get in more batting practice with a bunch of high school kids, Exeter’s location made the impromptu practice appearance an easy feat. Phillips Exeter is located in Exeter, N.H., approximately one hour from Boston.

Fuld’s hometown of Durham, N.H. is even closer, sitting just 23 minutes away, so it’s likely that the Rays outfielder grouped a trip home with his trip to his former baseball stomping grounds.

Of course, Fuld has come a long way since then, to a starting outfield role via the Cubs farm system. Apparently the Exeter facilities have improved in like fashion, as Fuld made clear in his tweet.

A former Colorado prep football player who suffered severe brain damage and paralyzation from a concussion during a practice five years ago won an $11.5 million lawsuit against the nation's largest football helmet manufacturer and several high school officials over the weekend, according to an Associated Press report.

The ruling could open up Riddell Sports Inc. and other helmet makers to countless lawsuits from athletes at all levels. Similar litigation has already been brought against Riddell in Los Angeles and by thousands of former NFL players, the AP reported.

Riddell Sports Inc. must pay $3.1 million in damages to a paralyzed former Colorado prep football player -- Riddell.com

After deliberating until 2 a.m. on Saturday morning, a Denver jury ordered Riddell -- makers of the Official Helmet of the NFL -- to pay 27 percent of the damages ($3.1 million) to former Trinidad (Colo.) High football player Rhett Ridolfi for failing to sufficiently warn its customers of concussion dangers.

Ridolfi suffered a concussion in an August 2008 football practice and was not rushed to a hospital. When he was later diagnosed with severe brain damage and paralyzation on his left side, the family sued Riddell as well as several Trinidad coaches and administrators.

Ricky Watters is back in football, just not at the level that most associate him with.

The new Oak Ridge football coach Ricky Watters during his Seattle days — Getty Images

As reported by the Orlando Sentinel, and brought to Prep Rally’s attention by USA Today, the former 49ers Super Bowl champion running back was named the new head football coach at Orlando (Fl.) Oak Ridge High. Watters doesn’t have any prep football coaching experience, so he will be jumping directly into the deep end by attempting to lead a competitive program in Florida from Day One.

Of course, Watters has plenty of experience in football in general. The former running back starred for the 49ers, Eagles and Seahawks over the course of a 10-year career in which he averaged more than 1,000 yards per season.

Interestingly, Watters will be replacing another former NFL player who made his name at Oak Ridge. Former coach Elijah Williams served admirably at the Orlando school before leaving to take an assistant coaching position at Florida A&M during the 2013 offseason. Oak Ridge won six or more games in five of Williams' six seasons leading the program.

Since finishing his professional career and re-settling in Central Florida, Watters has reportedly served as a motivational speaker for at-risk youth in Central Florida, efforts that earned Watters a spot in the Central Florida Sports Hall of Fame.

The use of Spanish in public schools remains a hot button issue across America, yet it seems to burn brightest in states with very high Hispanic populations like Texas, California, Arizona and New Mexico. Now some of those tensions may be boiling over to the playing fields in at least one of those aforementioned states.

The Gadsden baseball team, including pitcher Anthony Acevedo, was threatened with ejections if it spoke in Spanish — BeRecruited

As reported by the Albuquerque Journal, the Gadsden (N.M.) High baseball team was threatened with widescale ejections by an umpire when it communicated in Spanish during a game at Alamogordo (N.M.) High. According to the Journal, the incident started when the first base umpire told the Gadsden first -- who remains unnamed in all reporting on the issue to date -- to stop speaking Spanish to his teammates.

“Anyone who speaks Spanish -- coaches or players -- will be ejected,” said first base referee Corey Jones, sources at the game told the Journal.

Naturally, the Gadsden coaching staff didn’t take kindly to having one of their key players called out for something that, in their view, was perfectly legal. One coach, Gadsden assistant Emmanuel Burciaga, immediately challenged the umpire to defend his player. The interchange was a testy one, as chronicled by the New Mexico newspaper.

Burciaga said he told Jones, “Our players will not stop speaking Spanish, and they will not be ejected.”

He said Jones then “came walking toward me and said, ‘Another word from you, Coach, and you will be ejected.’ ”

The home plate umpire, who is bilingual, intervened in the mid-game conflict and told Jones there was no rule prohibiting players from speaking Spanish on the field, Burciaga said.

While the umpire may have taken umbrage to not understanding what the players were saying, the home plate umpire said that he would stop any foul language between the teams.

Following his son's senior season, Bingham (South Jordan, Utah) High boys basketball coach Mark Dubach reportedly planned on stepping down from the post he's held for the past 11 years, but he never foresaw having to resign from his teaching position, too.

Dubach, who led the Miners to a state title in 2006, left both Bingham roles following accusations of verbal abuse and financial improprieties, according to multiple reports.

Bingham coach Mark Dubach (ninth from right) resigned amid verbal abuse and financial impropriety allegations -- binghamminers.org

Jordan School District director of communications Sandy Riesgraf told The Salt Lake Tribune that the school learned of the allegations on a Friday in early March, Dubach resigned the following Monday and the school alerted the Jordan Police Department.

A dozen parents confronted Dubach regarding verbal abuse of their sons and asked him to resign during the season that resulted in a 14-10 record and ended on Feb. 25, according to a Deseret News report. Eight parents who spoke to the publication on the condition of anonymity mentioned the following reasons for

Some high school pitchers are also great hitters. The best players on either side of the ball, they can dominate games from the mound and the plate.

Bothell pitcher Travis Dohr, who hit a long-awaited homer against O'Dea — BeRecruited

Travis Dohr is not one of those pitchers. The Bothell (Wa.) High ace is the kind of pitcher who can dominate a game when his location is on and can definitely make contact, but he is hardly a slugger. In fact, heading into the 2013 season, the senior hadn’t hit a home run in a game since he was in the eighth grade.

That all changed when Dohr started the most meaningful game of the season, against Seattle (Wa.) O’Dea High, a squad which had previously featured his best friend, Josh Dickerson. According to the Bothell Reporter, Dickerson passed away in 2012 after battling cancer for three years.

Dohr entered the season determined to make the most of it in memory of his late friend. Then, against Dickerson’s old squad, Dohr pitched four shutout innings and also connected on his first home run in four years. He did it pitching against one of Dickerson’s other closest friends, O’Dea starter Dylan Wade, and both agreed afterward that there was something special carrying Dohr’s ball toward the fence and over.

“I don’t hit home runs at all,” Dohr told the Reporter. “I was really surprised.

“I know [Wade] felt it too, Josh’s presence."

The idea that a perfect game cannot be topped is flawed. In fact, it can ... unless it was the one hurled by Sussex (N.J.) High Point High pitcher Ally Frei.

High Point softball ace Aly Frei, who now has pitched 4 perfect games — Newark Star-Ledger/NJ.com

As reported by the New Jersey Herald, Frei tossed the incredibly elusive "perfect perfect game" in a 5-0 victory against Vernon (N.J.) High. More specifically, Frei faced 21 Vernon batters and struck out each one.

Want more proof of just how untouchable Frei was? According to her assistant coach, High Point statistics noted only two foul balls off the pitcher all night. That means that of Frei's 63 strikes, 61 either came while looking or via swings and misses.

"She was on her A-game," High point assistant coach Jim Fasano told the Herald.

"On her A-game" is an understatement. At the same time, Frei had to be untouchable to top her own prior bests.

En route to earning 2012 Player of the Year honors from the Newark Star-Ledger, Frei tossed three perfect games as a sophomore. Needless to say, those three victories alone were more than enough to earn Frei plenty of attention from opposing squads, the regional media and college coaches.