Boys’ basketball 2025-26: Cael LaFrentz gives Decorah a large presence in the middle

CEDAR RAPIDS - There are a couple of questions Cael LaFrentz gets asked a lot. He’ll tell you.

So let’s deal with the first one.

How is your college basketball recruiting going? Are you set on being a D-I guy, or will it be Division II or maybe even junior college for a couple of years?

“Coaches have been talking to me, but I haven’t made my decision, yet,” the 6-foot-10 Decorah senior center said. “I’m just really focused on and looking forward to playing out my senior year and having fun my last year with my friends, my dad and my brother.”

Ah, yes. His dad and brother.

That leads us to the second question. What is it like being the son of an Iowa high school legend?

One of the most highly regarded college recruits this state ever has produced? A guy who played 10 seasons in the NBA after an all-American college career at the University of Kansas?

That’d be Raef LaFrentz, if you weren’t aware.

“I’d say I feel a little bit of pressure, just kind of living in the same area of the state that he grew up,” Cael LaFrentz said. “People talk to me about him a lot. But I feel like I’m just trying to carve out my own path, so to say. It’s good to have him there, as a really good basketball mind with all of his experiences that he has had in the game of basketball.”

Raef LaFrentz is an assistant coach for Decorah. Another of he and wife Joie’s four sons, Rex, is expected to play varsity this season as a 6-6 freshman.

“That just provides us more size and length to help us offensively and defensively,” Cael LaFrentz said of his brother. “I’d say he’s more of a ‘4.’ He can shoot outside a lot more than I could at that age. I’d say he’s more a mix of (teammate) Noah Milburn and I as a player. He’ll be asked to play the ‘4’ spot for us and do some high-low action with me. Just do things we need him to do. I feel pretty confident he’ll do well with those things.”

Make no mistake, this is pretty much Cael LaFrentz’s team, though. He’s a returning first-team Class 3A all-state player, an interior force few, if any, teams can match.

LaFrentz averaged 29.2 points, 12.7 rebounds and 3.7 blocked shots per game last season for Decorah, which finished 22-2, losing in overtime to Cedar Rapids Xavier in a 3A substate final. Yes, that game sticks in his craw.

Fellow all-stater Zach Driscoll graduated, leaving a gaping hole at the point-guard position for the Vikings. But if they can find adequate play there, this could be a really good team.

A state tournament team.

“I think we’ve still got athletes, three guys on our roster who were all-state football guys,” head coach Jonathan Carlson said, referring to Milburn, Trevor Kuennen and Tanner Caddell. “That helps, but will it translate over to basketball? They’ve been successful, so it should, but you just never know.”

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“Obviously we’ve lost Zach to graduation, but we’ve got the core of us seniors who have been playing together since fourth grade,” Cael LaFrentz said. “Then we have a lot of younger guys and juniors who are just developing and cultivating through these couple weeks of practice that we’ve had who we are hoping will provide for us and make us all that much better as a team.”

LaFrentz has put up enormous numbers in his three seasons of varsity basketball, but he is skinny and been mostly a back-to-the-basket player. Still, the ability, size and pedigree are undeniable and enticing.

Carlson said the best with him is very much yet to come. He has added more muscle going into this season, is processing things better, has the ability to go out and hit mid-range shots.

“We’re going to probably need him to make those, too, to get guys off of him,” Carlson said. “Being more versatile and things. We’re still working with him on taking it off the bounce a little bit more. He’s still progressing with that. I think that will come with time. For now, in the high school game, he hasn’t needed to do that. We’re successful with him close to the basket, so we try and exploit that as much as we can while trying to develop some of those other areas.

“I think he’s a guy who you won’t see his potential until he’s probably 22 or 23 years old.”

But this is now, and that is all LaFrentz is focusing upon.

“I feel like I’ve had a good career thus far. Played with a lot of good players,” he said. “Just trying to leave the program in a better place than when I found it.”

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