BJ Carretta
High School Fort Wayne Dwenger, IN
Height and Weight 6'3" 185lbs
Position Point Guard/Wing Guard
Rankings ---
Academically Eligible Yes
Status Invited Walk-on
Player News ·
Game Stats ·
Season Stats ·
Honors
5-4-96...A recent J&C article called Carretta "Determined.
Aggressive. Hard-nosed. Unselfish." But don't expect to hear comments
from coach Keady just yet. Since Carretta is a walk-on, he doesn't
have to sign a national letter of intent to play for Purdue. Therefore,
he is still recruitable and the Purdue coaching staff is unable to comment
on him until he graduates high school. Although Keady could not comment
on Carretta, Carretta had plenty to say about Keady. "When you play
for coach Keady, you're rewarded for hard work," Carretta said last
Wednesday night. "From what I've perceived, it doesn't matter if you're
a walk-on or a scholarship player."
Former Boiler Kip Jones, who is an assistant coach at Dwenger,
recommended Carretta to Keady, which got the ball rolling on Purdue's
end. Then, former Boiler Matt Painter spoke favorably to Dwenger head
coach Chris Johnson about Carretta's division I abilities. " We were
kind of a mirror image of Purdue," said Johnson. "We produce wins
by hard work, playing good defense and dedicating ourselves to the
team. All that will go with BJ into Purdue's program." That and a good
amount of skill. "He's a hard-nosed kid who won't back down from
anybody." added Johnson. "He's not going to let anybody but coach Keady
tell him that he's not going to play somewhere. He didn't worry about
scoring, he worried about wins and loses. I think Gene Keady is getting
a pretty good player."
5-1-96...More information has revealed that Carretta turned down
scholarship offers from Toledo and Wisconsin-Green Bay to play for a
more nationally known program. "I had my own philosophy," Carretta
said, "either take my shot at the big time -- the Big Ten, Big East
or ACC -- or just not play." Coaching was the key reason Carretta
chose Purdue over Indiana and Missouri. "It's a winning program,
just what I perceived," Carretta added. "There isn't a better coach
around than Coach Keady. If you work hard and it shows, you get
rewarded."
4-30-96...The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette says B.J. Carretta of
Bishop Dwenger high school will attend Purdue as an invited walk-on.
All B.J. Carretta wanted was a chance to be part of a nationally
known basketball program. Even if he didn't get to play much. Even
if he and his family had to pay his way to get there. Carretta, the
6'3" guard who led Bishop Dwenger to the elite eight of the high
school basketball tournament, announced Monday that he would attend
Purdue. Carretta was also recruited by Indiana, and was also getting
interest from Missouri. Carretta reportedly met with coach Keady last
Friday. A story of the announcement also appeared in the Fort
Wayne News-Sentinel.
DATE FG FGA FT FTA 3PM 3PA RB AS ST PTS
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06-12-96 4 5 2 2 1 2 3 3 3 11 Won 103- Spiece 62
Season thru PPG FG% FT% 3P% RPG APG SPG BPG RECORD RANK
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95-96 season 19.8 4.0 6.0 22-4 --
95-96 season Hoosier Basketball Top40 Senior Team
Associated Press All-State 3rd Team
Indiana Basketball Coaches Association All-State 3rd Team
Summit Conference Championship
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