C.R. Xavier’s motto: Pressure is a good thing

CEDAR RAPIDS — It's a compliment, boys. Love the haters, squash the pressure.

They'll all be gunning for Cedar Rapids Xavier's boys' basketball team this season. Win a state championship, and everyone revels in wanting to get a piece of you.

Coach Ryan Luehrsmann wants his team to realize that's a positive. They've had to have accomplished something to acquire that kind of status.

'I want them to know it's a good thing to have expectations on you,' Luehrsmann said. 'That they respect you and hold you in high regard, and you've got great potential. My biggest challenge with them is that this is a fresh new slate. Yeah, we lean on the past and have confidence knowing that we've done it before.

'But this is a brand new team, a brand new year. To borrow a line from Chicago Cubs Manager Joe Maddon, I've told the kids to embrace the target.'

If things turn out like they did for the Cubs, Xavier will be ecstatic. And there's every reason to believe in this team.

There are three very good starters returning in senior Max Techau and juniors Matt Mims and Jackson Joens. That's an interior guy, a point guard and a shooter.

A great place to start.

'They have state tournament experience, been in big games, so they're the three we're trying to build around,' Luehrsmann said.

There are holes to fill. Guard Mitch Burger was Xavier's leading scorer last season and forward Ryan Stulken an incredibly important do-it-all glue guy.

Senior guard Nolan Butkowski was big off the bench last season and should slide into the starting lineup. Bryce Schulte also played in every game, though he averaged just a point a game.

Others will need to step up and help replace what Burger and Stulken provided.

'We've got a lot of guys who really dedicated themselves in the offseason to basketball,' said Techau. 'Mitch and Stulken, they were a huge part of our team last year. Us, our whole team, we've got to pick up where they left off. Share the ball, play as a team, and I think we'll be in good shape.' 'We know each other, we're familiar with how each other plays,' Mims said. 'I think we have good chemistry.'

Luehrsmann will have plenty of time to piece things together. The Mississippi Valley Conference meat grinder surely helps Xavier when it comes to the postseason.

Some late injuries and a bottom-heavy schedule caused the Saints to lose their final six regular-season games last season. But it all came together at the right time.

Even though Burger was suspended for two games, Xavier still was able to get to the state tournament. Once there, it beat Spirit Lake, Pella and two-time defending champ Dubuque Wahlert, all of whom were seeded higher.

A heck of a run.

'We knew if we listened to Coach, we could do anything,' Mims said. 'We accomplished it all.'

'We want this to be a program that is consistently, year in and year out, at the state tournament,' said Luehrsmann, the former Iowa Hawkeye guard who is in his fifth season at Xavier. 'It'd be naive to think that we can compete for MVC titles every year. The stars have to align right. The league is just too good, especially being the size of school we are. But we think playing those games gets us ready to go when the games count most.'

Xavier showed you what it can do when the games count most.

'I think we all have that killer mentality now,' Techau said. 'We're just ready to attack anyone who is in our way.'

Boys' Basketball Preview

• Players to watch

• A look at the area conferences