Burlington Central names Porto new head coach

Burlington Central tabbed one of its most decorated athletes of this decade as the school's new boys basketball coach on Wednesday.

Brett Porto, a 2003 graduate, will replace Chris Payne, who resigned on March 30 after six seasons.

Porto played two seasons at quarterback for the Central football team, two seasons at shooting guard for the basketball team, and three seasons as the baseball team's shortstop. Those three teams finished with a combined winning percentage of .660 (93-48) in his junior and senior seasons.

As a result, Porto was named the Daily Herald Fox Valley Male Athlete of the Year for 2002-03.

"I couldn't be happier," Porto said of his new position. "This is really, really a dream job for me having grown up in this community. No one could take more pride in this job or put more energy into this program than I will."

As a senior on the Central basketball team, Porto led the Rockets to a 16-14 record and a regional title, the fifth in school history. His Rockets reached the Class A Reed-Custer sectional title game before falling to Lisle 72-55. He finished his senior season as the area leader in scoring (22.3 ppg.) and 3-pointers made (87).

Porto went on to play two seasons of baseball at Elgin Community College, where he earned an Associate degree. He signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Western Illinois University but soon became disenchanted with the program and ended his competitive sports career.

Porto, who turns 24 next week, graduated from WIU in 2008 with a bachelor's degree in education. He has worked Central's summer basketball camps alongside Payne since he graduated from high school, the same camps he attended as a third, fourth and fifth-grader when Dave Gilliland was Central's coach.

Porto has also coached a middle school traveling basketball team in the area and, last season, served as Burlington Central's sophomore boys basketball coach. He is a physical education teacher at the high school.

Expect the Rockets to resemble their new coach's high-energy approach on the court.

"Fans will see and up-tempo basketball team with a solid press defense that will defend you the whole court as much as we can," Porto said. "We'll play with speed and pressure and turn that into a solid fast-break offense."