Set your sights high.
Oswego East’s Mason Lockett did that, and look at him now.
A 5-foot-7 point guard in junior high, the senior standout is all grown up for the Wolves — listed at 6-5 on this season’s roster — and looking forward to a new challenge.
Next up? It’s the bright lights and big cities of the Big East Conference for the DePaul recruit.
“He has a great family around him, and like a lot of basketball junkies, Mason had to work really hard,” Oswego East coach Ryan Velasquez said. “And he did. He put in the time, and now he has the opportunity to play some big-time basketball. His best is ahead of him.
“Going to DePaul will be a really big stage, and I see Mason getting better and better.”
It’s also what Lockett, the 2025-26 Beacon-News/Courier-News Boys Basketball Player of the Year, did as a three-year varsity starter after being promoted for his sophomore season.
Lockett had even more on his plate this winter as the lone returning starter. He handled it well, averaging 18.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.0 steals in leading Oswego East (20-12).
Always able to score, Lockett put up 39 points in a 74-65 win over Neuqua Valley in the third game of the season in the Hoops for Healing Tournament at Oswego.
It was the Wildcats’ lone loss of the regular season, and one they avenged in the regional final at home against the Wolves. But Neuqua Valley’s Carter Coviello was definitely impressed.
“He’s different than what I’ve tried to guard before,” Coviello said of Lockett. “He’s very unique in his style. He plays at kind of his own pace, so it was a little hard to keep up with his rhythm.
“Sometimes, he would go slow. Sometimes, he would speed it up. It was difficult.”
Lockett was typically the focus of every opponent, according to his coach.
“He was always drawing the attention of the best defender,” Velasquez said. “Nothing was easy for him, but in my eyes, he responded very well. He was the ultimate team player. Sometimes he had to score and sometimes he had to facilitate.
“Mason knows what it takes to win and how to pass to the open guy. He has a high basketball IQ and makes everyone around him better, and we needed that a lot this year.”
Lockett confirmed that developing his leadership skills was a big challenge.
“Being the only one to play for coach before gave me a lot of responsibility,” Lockett said. “From the first time I stepped in the door, (Velasquez) took me under his wing, working with me and showing me new things, even outside of basketball. He’s been a treat to work with.
“Coach called me before the start of the year and asked if I wanted to play in those showcase games.”
The answer, of course, was a resounding yes from Lockett.
“Our schedule was the hardest it’s been since I’ve been here,” said Velasquez. “We had eight games against six opponents who finished the season ranked in the Top 25 for the (Chicago) area. We took some lickings but didn’t back down.
“The boys like to be challenged and we were playing the top teams in the state. To be the best, you have to beat the best.”
The Big East’s major markets like New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., as well as Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Milwaukee, will soon be regular trips for Lockett.
And he hasn’t outgrown his position.
“I was scouted and recruited to play point guard,” Lockett said. “I’ve been doing that my whole life.”
Now, it will just be bigger and better.
