In most ways, Utah teenager Gus Lavaka is a normal kid. The Kearns (Utah) High is an active senior, a talented athlete and diligent student who is likely to play on a collegiate football offensive line in fall 2012.

Gus Lavaka — Salt Lake Tribune

Still, it's what Lavaka is doing this winter that has turned plenty of people's heads: He's playing two varsity sports that do anything but overlap, and he's making a difference in both.

As first chronicled by the Salt Lake Tribune, Lavaka decided to add basketball to his existing three-varsity sport repertoire for his final winter season, throwing his 6-foot-4, 300-pound frame into the post for a Kearns basketball squad that had never had his services before. Yet Lavaka added basketball without cutting back on his existing winter sport of wrestling, instead continuing to aim for a state title in the 285-pound class, at which he was a Utah runner-up in 2010-11.

"I like to compete," Lavaka told the Tribune. "I wanted to play basketball."

While that might sound like a decided understatement, Lavaka's surprising insistence on adding yet another sport to his busy winter schedule was cautiously supported by his wrestling coach, Tyson Lindell. The only stipulation Lindell put on Lavaka's new sport was that if both activities had events scheduled for the same day, Lavaka would have to prioritize his previous wrestling obligations.

As the world collectively moves a day closer to discovering whether Denver quarterback Tim Tebow's magic can be resuscitated in the NFL playoffs, the one-man sensation may also be moving closer to expanding his brand into a prep-focused training center in the Tampa, Fla. area.

Tim Tebow — Getty Images

According to the Tampa Bay Times, discussions between Tebow and D1 Sports Training are in an advanced stage to make Tebow a high profile investor in the sports training and medicine chain's Tampa franchise. By signing in to an agreement, Tebow would be a recognized investor in the chain, though it is uncertain whether his image would be used for advertising for that location or others. The quarterback is reportedly already an investor in the sports training company's Savannah Georgia location.

"We're just trying to just finalize everything with him right now," D1 Sports Training corporate spokesman Matt Toy told the Times. "Part of the reason we can't announce anything right now is that he's just so focused on the season. Plus we have a few details to work out."

If he does join in with D1's Tampa location, Tebow would add even more immediately relevant star power to a cadre of professional athletes that already includes Braves third baseman Chipper Jones, professional wrestler Chris Jericho and former Buccaneers linebacker Derrick Brooks.

Brooks is signed on as an official "ambassador" for the facility, which will include a 60-yard artificial turf football field and is directly attached to a sports medicine facility. The Times reported that the D1 corporate ownership and partners have invested between $1 and $2 million in the facility, which aims to train predominantly high school athletes as if they were already competing at the collegiate level.

When some of the nation's top high school football players take the field on Thursday night in the Under Armour All-America High School Football Game, a few of the names on the back of jerseys might appear familiar. And while "Griffey" -- worn by wide receiver Trey Griffey -- and Sanders -- worn by athlete Deion Sanders Jr. -- present obvious links to past athletic greatness, that pair is just a small part of a shocking number of relatives of former pro athletes who will take part in one of the nation's most elite high school football all-star games.

Keyshawn Johnson and Trey Griffey — Twitter.com

Officially, 13 different players on the two Under Armour squads' rosters are related to former pros in either football or baseball, with the younger Griffey the only MLB descendent. That's 13 of 92 total players, meaning that approximately one in seven of Under Armour's choice of the nation's best senior football players has grown up around past football greatness.

Clearly, that ratio is too strong to be a mere coincidence. While most of the other relatives of former NFLers don't bring the cache of Deion Sanders or prep quarterback Chad Kelly's uncle, former Bills quarterback Jim Kelly, the likes of wide receivers Cayleb Jones and Avery Johnson have still grown up around the bright spotlights afforded to pro stars and their families.

According to Under Armour Director of Sports Marketing Walker Jones, the company hosting the game hardly sees that as a drawback. Rather, Jones feels that having one in seven of the players in Orlando for Thursday's game may help some of the nation's top high school athletes get an even more realistic feel for what the media attention they are likely to face at the next level might feel like.

"I think that is to have those type of players in the game -- and having the likes of Joe Montana's kid a couple of years ago -- Deion's kid and Trey Griffey this year … Having these kids that have grown up in that type of environment really helps other players, too," Jones told Prep Rally. "Having Ken Griffey come to our game speaks a lot. Other kids look up to him [and Trey Griffey]. Seeing Deion is out there coaching his son.

"I think it does help because these kids feed off each other, they listen, and they get a lot of energy good and bad. The more you have mature high school seniors around that have been through that, that helps. I know high school has changed a little bit, but there's no way that any of these players receive media exposure to this level. To have kids who have been around that and had microphones in their face, that helps raise the maturity level of everyone in the game."

That celebrity-feel has also been enforced once again by Under Armour's coaches, with former NFL head men Steve Mariucci and Herm Edwards leading the two squads. The aforementioned Deion Sanders is coaching his son and other defensive backs, while former NFL star Keyshawn Johnson has taught the receiving prospects and Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke has coached the teams' quarterbacks.

Connell (Wash.) High's Cole Vanderbilt was a relative unknown in the basketball world, but all that changed two days ago, when a viral YouTube video turned him into one of the most hated players in Washington.

As the Tri-City Herald reported, Vanderbilt turned into public enemy number one when Michael Christenson decided to film a game between Connell and Highland (Wash.) High to prove to parents at Highland that the basketball league needed better officials.

As it turns out, the clip did more than just spotlight an officiating problem; it also made seniors Cole Vanderbilt and teammate Kennan VanHollebeke look like the dirtiest players on the court.

Someone apparently didn't appreciate the fouls -- the fifth foul is definitely of the flagrant variety -- because before anyone could blink, the video had gone viral, with one website proclaiming Vanderbilt to be "the dirtiest basketball player in America."

While Christenson certainly proved his point with the video, what he didn't expect was the outcry on YouTube from commenters who viewed the clip. The negative and sometimes hurtful responses to the fouls forced Vanderbilt's coaches and family to go into damage-control mode.

"[Cole Vanderbilt] a tough kid, but those that know him know he's a teddy bear," Connell coach Oscar Garza told the Tri-City Herald. "My 7-year-old son loves him and lights up when he's around. But on (YouTube) he's the world's meanest, ugliest kid. It's not fair, but I just want him to know his teammates and coaches are behind him."

Coming Wednesday to a television screen near you: Chris Pratt.

No, "Parks and Recreation" hasn't been moved up a day. Rather, the Lake Stevens (Wash.) High alum is featured as an executive producer of a documentary on his former high school wrestling program, which goes by the colorful name of "The Berserkers." The documentary will air on MTV on Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. PST and will feature Pratt and a wealth of footage captured from the 2010-11 Lake Stevens wrestling team's state championship campaign.

Lake Stevens Berserkers wrestling

"It's a good documentary," Lake Stevens wrestling coach Brent Barnes told the Seattle Times. "It's honest and gives a good depiction of what it's like to be a high school wrestler and the year we had."

Pratt, who has gained celebrity for his depiction of the character Andy Dwyer in the hit NBC series "Parks and Recreation" -- not to mention a role playing catcher-first baseman Scott Hatteberg in the recent film adaptation of "Moneyball" -- is a proud former Lake Stevens wrestler who pitched the idea of a documentary about the program's legacy of quirky success.

And make no mistake: Everything from the team's unofficial "Berserker" nickname to the backgrounds of the 2010-11 team's wrestlers are fairly unconventional. Pratt was the genesis of the program, pitching a potential series on the program to MTV executives based on his own experiences with the program. Fittingly, a key part of that successful pitch was based around the team nickname itself.

"[A] Berserker is a North Scot that fights in a trancelike state," Pratt told the Lake Stevens Journal when interviewed about the project. "Berserkers are known as Vikings, and being a Lake Stevens Viking, a Berserker is the unofficial mascot of the wrestling team. I just really liked the title. That's how I pitched it to MTV."

As for an idea of what viewers will take in during the show, Pratt said that the documentary will depict how the school's wrestlers are hyper-focused, both on and off the mat … even if the filming process itself distracted from that focus, at least a bit.

One of the nation's most successful and controversial girls basketball coaches suddenly passed away on Tuesday after a battle with cancer.

Nazareth and Exodus girls basketball coach Apache Paschall

As reported by the New York Post and a variety of other media outlets, New York (N.Y.) Nazareth High girls basketball coach Apache Paschall died on Tuesday at New York Infirmary-Beekman Downtown Hospital, which he was transported to from his New York home after he took an unexpected turn for the worse. Paschall was reportedly accompanied by assistant coach Lauren Best and friend and colleague Rodney Johnson at the time of his death.

The coach's sudden passing follows a rough year of health complications for Paschall, who was reportedly diagnosed with congestive heart failure at the start of 2011 and learned of skin cancer in October. The Post reported that the coach had been undergoing radiation on his neck and jaw area since his initial cancer diagnosis, but continued to coach his team while receiving treatment five days a week.

"It's a tragic loss for Nazareth, especially for our kids," school principal Providencia Quiles told the Post. "We're all suffering right now."

While many questioned Paschall's open policy of recruiting students for his basketball programs, few could doubt his ability to mold talented players into successful teams. The late head man's current girls basketball squad is a testament to that very claim. After winning the 2011 New York State Federation Class AA state title, Nazareth is ranked in the top 10 of both ESPN and USA Today's national girls basketball rankings.

It's hard for the relative of a top athlete or former star to outdo the hype that inevitably follows in their familial predecessor's wake. Yet somehow, a freshman boys basketball player in California might be succeeding in doing precisely that.

Campbell Hall freshman Aaron Holiday

As noted by the Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Daily News, North Hollywood (Calif.) Campbell Hall School guard Aaron Holiday is absolutely tearing up the court early in his high school career. The teenager scored a whopping 36 points in a Chaminade holiday tournament game against Lancaster (Calif.) Eastside, leading his team to a stirring, 59-55 comeback victory.

Most impressively, Holiday put the game away with a huge slam, cutting into the lane and drawing a foul while converting the dunk, and sinking the subsequent free throw to provide the game's final score.

"I love those situations when the game is tight," Holiday told the Daily News. "Thank God I can jump like that."

If Holiday's last name and Southern California roots ring a bell, that's because he's spent his entire life following in his very talented older brother's footsteps; current 76ers guard Jrue Holiday.

Clearly, the younger Holiday has wasted little time proving that he can excel just as his brother did on the Los Angeles prep hoops circuit. His 36-point explosion followed an earlier 32-point game, and the 5-foot-11 point guard was already averaging 24 points per game within weeks of the season's opening.

As with any new year, 2012 brings with it the promise of changes in a variety of different social arenas, youth sports certainly among them. Still, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association could usher in a truly strange new era, depending on what it's Swim Committee decides on Thursday. After that meeting, the official state south division record for the 50-yard freestyle event in girls swimming may be held by a boy named Will Higgins.

SwimIssue

If your initial reaction to that possibility is, "Wait, how is it possible for a boy to hold a girls swimming record?" rest assured, you're not alone. Still, the debate is a very real and lively one in Massachusetts, where boys have been permitted to participate as part of girls swimming teams at schools where boys swimming has been eliminated because of budget cuts or other concerns.

Here's how the Boston Globe spelled out the full depth of the dilemma facing Higgins -- who competes for the Norwood (Mass.) High girls swimming team -- and other boys on girls teams:

High school swimming in Massachusetts takes place in the fall and the winter. In the winter season, there are both boys' teams and coed teams, and separate state tournaments are held for each gender. But in the fall, swimming is strictly a girls' sport. That leaves Higgins and other male fall swimmers no choice but to swim alongside girls, and strive to compete in the girls' state championships.

Of the 48 high schools with girls' swim teams this fall, eight - Billerica, Dracut, Marshfield, Methuen, Norwood, Walpole, Weymouth, and St. Peter-Marian of Worcester - had male swimmers on their rosters, according to the MIAA.