The Oswego East girls basketball program has made great strides since the school opened in 2005.
Included were a 21-win season a year ago and a dedication to defense.However, it has also burned through a pair of coaches, each lasting just three years.
Enter Abe Carretto. The 37-year-old spent the last three years as an assistant coach under Nate Eimer, who returned to his alma mater, West Aurora, to coach football.
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While some things will change under Carretto’s guidance, the Wolves’ defensive intensity won’t be one of them.
"My goals as to play extremely good defense and utilize a few different offensive sets,” Carretto said. “We’re going to use a few more schemes on the defensive end. Otherwise, the team will be playing similar basketball to what we've done in the past."
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Last year, the Wolves played in the first regional championship game in program history.
“We won't have a lot of height like last year, but we have excellent guards,” Carretto said. “I believe we have more outside shooters than last year.”
Carretto graduated from Ottawa Marquette High School in downstate Ottawa and played men's basketball at Illinois Valley Community College in Oglesby.
He earned his teaching degree at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. He went on to attain a masters’ degree from Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais.
He spent time at Indian Creek High School in Shabbona, Troy Community Consolidated School District 30-C in Shorewood and Plainfield District 202 before coming to Oswego District 308. Carretto is a physical education teacher at Oswego East.
“The kind of team you will see is a young team with a great senior leader and captain in Arneasa Blair,” Carretto said of the four-year varsity starter and returning all-Southwest Prairie Conference guard. “Although we are young grade wise, we have three seniors returning
to the varsity.”
The biggest challenge for Carretto might be the day-to-day activities of a head coach compared to an assistant.
“I am looking forward to the challenges of being the head coach,” Carretto said. “I'm sure it will be hectic being the one in charge. But, I will be working the players hard like I have in the past when I was a lower level head coach.”
The goal is simple: improve with each game.
“The team goals are to keep getting better, play great team defense, move a step closer in the conference race and to move on in the state tournament,” Carretto said.
