Weber says yes, and the Wauconda whirlwind begins

Jaime Weber said yes.

Twice.

Her 2008 has been busy and exciting, and it's not over.

After agreeing to replace Tim Bartusch as head coach of Wauconda's girls basketball team, which begins what should be another successful season Monday night at Crystal Lake Central, Weber accepted a marriage proposal on June 28.

"It's all happened at once," Weber said. "Not exactly how I planned it, but that's OK."

She and Wade Dennis plan to get married in July of next year.

"After basketball season and after camp," Weber said.

Her smile is contagious, but don't be fooled by it or her point-guard height. She claims she stands 5 feet 2 - "on a good day in the morning."

Weber is a small but fierce. She's a competitor. She was a three-sport athlete at Wauconda, graduating in 1995. She threw the shot downstate her junior and senior years, and was the Northwest Suburban Conference champ in the discus three years in a row.

Her winter sport was basketball, which had to toughen her up, because losing every night is never easy.

"My junior year we were 0-25," Weber said. "Then we pulled up a few freshmen and we were over .500 the next year."

Weber spent the last four basketball seasons as Bartusch's assistant. The Wauconda Middle School teacher was the Bulldogs' freshman B coach for three years before that.

She takes over a varsity squad that took advantage of the IHSA's class expansion last year to capture its first regional championship in 15 years. Weber's returnees include four-year varsity starter Lauren Mead, who signed with Lewis University last week, and junior point guard Kate Martino, who could pass for Weber's kid sister.

Bartusch stepped down last spring, after his ninth season. He still teaches at Wauconda.

"His boys are getting older," Weber said. "They're getting to where they're active in their school and he wanted to be there to be able to coach them if the opportunity came.

"And he ended on a high note. It was just time."

Weber says Bartusch revealed to her during last season that he was thinking about stepping down. She seemed like a natural replacement - a young coach who'd paid her dues and would provide a new energy. A Wauconda alumnus, she certainly understands Bulldog pride.

Once she realized opportunity was knocking to become a head coach at her alma mater, she wasn't going to blow it.

"I started going to more meetings and getting a little more involved to kind of prepare," she said.

Wauconda graduated four guards, so during a practice last week the Bulldogs were doing a lot of shooting.

"We need replacements," Weber.

Wauconda never needed to look too hard for Bartusch's replacement. She'd been preparing, waiting, ready to go.

jaguilar@dailyherald.com