NORMAL - The bloodlines are there for Matt Paska. His mother was an All-American volleyball player at Illinois State. His father was a swimmer at ISU. | Photo gallery | 5 Things to Watch | Team facts

Being an athlete is in the genes, creating expectations from the get-go. Yet, Matt Paska's story is not one of parental pressure or interference.

The Normal West High School senior has been free to follow his heart athletically. It led him to basketball early on and, more recently, to football. The result is a 6-foot-4, 205-pound mix of passion and athleticism, with college potential in both sports.

His sports.

"I just do what I like," Paska said. "It's not like they (his parents) are forcing me to do anything. It's just something that I like a lot, so I go out and do it."

There is no pushing or prodding at home for Matt, his brother Dusty, a junior at West, or his sister Jill, a fifth-grader. Julie and Steve Paska provided options for their children, not ultimatums.

"We tried to open as many opportunities up for them as we could," said the former Julie Mueller, a 1985 ISU graduate and a second-team All-American in 1984.

"We got them into basketball and different running events and baseball ? as many as we could find. We let them go toward what they liked and what fit with them."

Steve Paska is asked frequently if his children are swimmers. It seems a natural since he was a college swimmer, and has coached the ISU women's swim team for 23 years. Yet, while all can swim, none pursued it competitively.

"I did it for maybe a month or two (as a 7-year-old), and I hated it," Matt Paska said. "I respect him (his father) for everything he's done for me, but that just wasn't my thing. It's so much different than running. It's a very difficult sport."

Instead, Matt Paska has immersed himself in basketball and football, practically living in the weight room and attending conditioning workouts faithfully since basketball season ended in March.

He has added muscle, going from 180 pounds to 205. His summer included 6 a.m. workouts four times a week.

"We haven't had to wake him up," Julie Paska said. "I remember being a high school kid and not wanting to get up at 8 o'clock. But he didn't miss one workout all summer. He makes sure he gets enough sleep, he eats the right things.

"We've just tried to encourage him to take the right steps. He knows what we expect of him, but we really don't have to do too much. He is pretty self-motivated."

Matt Paska has played basketball since fifth grade, and been a varsity starting forward at West since his sophomore year. His football background is more limited. He played only one year of youth football, as a fifth-grader with the McLean County Cougars.

Paska played on the West freshman team in 2004, but said, "I just did it because all my friends were doing it." Two stress fractures in his lower back forced him to miss his sophomore football season, leaving him among the least experienced players on last year's varsity roster.

He saw action at wide receiver and excelled at linebacker/safety on defense, intercepting three passes and returning two for touchdowns. He'll play safety this season.

"Because of his limited experience, we kind of focused more on defense last year. This year, he won't leave the field," West coach Darren Hess said. "I think he's really going to come into his own as a receiver.

"I think it helps that both of his parents were outstanding athletes, and they understand what it takes to succeed at the next level. He's seen that on a daily basis growing up. But you have to love it, because it's a lot of hard work. You can't do it for Dad, you can't do it for Mom. You have to do it for yourself."

Matt Paska attended a football combine in St. Louis and camps at Illinois and Illinois State this summer. College coaches like his athleticism. Hess said Paska runs the 40-yard dash in the "low 4.6s," has a vertical leap of 35 inches, bench presses more than 300 pounds, squats more than 400 and dead lifts close to 500.

Once an afterthought, football has pulled even with basketball in Paska's heart and mind.

"I realized after last season that I have a good chance of playing in college," he said. "If that helps me get through college, I'll take it. I'm still considering basketball for college, too. I'm not really sure which sport I'll choose."

Regardless, Julie Paska, an athletics academic advisor at ISU, wants him to experience college sports. She said ISU volleyball took her places she never envisioned as an all-stater at Freeburg High School.

"I want that to happen for him," she said.

So does Steve Paska, who has been impressed with his son's work ethic.

"In the sports Matt has chosen, it's the running, agility, jump training, weight training ? he understands the importance of all of them," his father said. "We've seen the training aspect of it take off the last couple of years.

"He has goals in mind as to what he wants to do athletically. He definitely has put the time and effort into it, and we're starting to see that pay off."