All-area boys' basketball: Xavier's Ryan Luehrsmann named coach of the year

CEDAR RAPIDS — Cedar Rapids Xavier boys' basketball was never a joke or anything. The program always has been competitive, especially considering the school is the second smallest in the powerful Mississippi Valley Conference.

But it has become more than just competitive in four years under Ryan Luehrsmann. This season, it became state championship quality.

The Saints won it all a couple of weeks ago, stunning Dubuque Wahlert to end its quest for a Class 3A three-peat. Xavier incurred a couple of late injuries and a six-game losing streak to end the regular season, but played exquisite basketball in the postseason to raise the title trophy for the first time.

It's the reason Luerhsmann is this year's Gazette boys' basketball coach of the year. Iowa Mr. Basketball Jordan Bohannon of Linn-Mar is the player of the year.

'Just such a surreal moment,' Luehrsmann said. 'People tell you to savor it, enjoy the moment ... It's emotional. You get connected with these kids. We've built a lot of special relationships here the past four years. You're preaching to them that someday we want to hang a banner in the Xavier gym, because there wasn't one. That was kind of a mantra for our program early on. To these guys' credit, they believed in us as a coaching staff and what we had to sell. They put in the hours, they put in the work. To realize a goal like this, it's hard not to get emotional about it.'

Luehrsmann, 38, was an all-state player at Cedar Rapids Washington, going on to play four years for the University of Iowa. An insurance agent by trade, he was hired as Xavier's head varsity coach in April 2012, after two years as the Saints' head freshman coach.

Xavier was 11-12 in his first season and 15-9 in his second. It qualified for the state tournament last season, winning the first two games in the school's history and placing third.

This season, well, it was special. Xavier won three games rather easily to get back to Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

It knocked off Spirit Lake and its two Division I college signees in the state tournament quarterfinals, 58-47, and held off top-seeded Pella in the semifinals, 70-65. It outscored Wahlert by six points in the fourth quarter to win the championship game, 62-57.

'It's obviously a huge advantage for us to play in the league that we play in,' Luehrsmann said. 'It's right up there with the CIML. If it's not the best league in the state, I want to hear from someone else why it's not. Rosters are dotted with Division I players, Division II players night in and night out. You are challenged by great coaches. The coaching is excellent. So it definitely gets you prepared for this time of year, when you've got to be at your best.'

More: All-area girls' basketball

With three quality starters returning in center Max Techau and guards Matt Mims and Jackson Joens, next season promises to be very good as well for Xavier. Luehrsmann's goal is for every season to have that potential.

'We're just real thrilled with where our program is right now. The direction it is headed,' he said. 'We've got a pretty good culture that has been established. Basketball at Xavier now is a year-round thing. It's (these) guys, it's the guys who went before them. Guys like Adam McDermott, Calvin Winker, Connor Ramlo, Michael Mims. The culture now is that we play this game year-round. If it's a point in the season where I can't be there or an assistant coach can't be there to run a workout, I know that Matt or Mitchell (Burger) or Jackson are going to take charge and make sure guys are getting in the gym and working on their game.

'It's starting to trickle down and filter into our younger kids. Not only in the building, but out of the building. It's an exciting thing right now.'

ALL-AREA TEAM

Jordan Bohannon, Linn-Mar: Senior guard and Iowa Hawkeyes signee also is the Gazette-area Player of the Year. Led Class 4A and was third overall in the state with a 25.8 scoring average. Second in the state in 3-pointers made (92). Third-leading career scorer in Metro history.

Mitchell Burger, Cedar Rapids Xavier: Difficult to choose which Xavier player was most deserving, but Burger led the Class 3A state champions in scoring (16.6 ppg) and was first-team all-MVC Mississippi Division pick. Senior guard will not play basketball in college, attending the University of Iowa solely as a student.

Devin Green, Cascade: The 6-foot-7 senior center helped the Cougars to the Class 2A state championship game, averaging 20.2 points per game and shooting 61 percent from the field. A signee of Division II Sioux Falls, he also led Cascade in rebounds (9.0 per game).

Devontae Lane, Iowa City West: The junior guard averaged 13.6 points for the Class 4A state runner-up Trojans. Led team in steals. Second-team all-stater by INA.

Connor McCaffery, Iowa City West: Led Trojans in scoring (16.0 ppg), despite missing two games with a concussion, incurred in a collision with fellow Iowa Hawkeye signee Cordell Pemsl of Dubuque Wahlert. The 6-foot-7 junior also led his team and placed third in the state in Class 4A in assists.

Wali Parks, Iowa City West: Senior interior player averaged 12.7 points and a team-best 6.5 rebounds. Shot 59 percent from the field. Third-team Class 4A all-stater by Iowa Newspaper Association. Headed to JUCO power Indian Hills.

Kolin Schulte, Anamosa: Senior guard helped the Blue Raiders to the state tournament for the first time. Anamosa finished fourth in Class 2A. Averaged 21.6 points per game, shooting 51 percent from the field. Likely will play football in college.

Colin Squiers, Dyersville Beckman — Simply a great shooting senior season for the guard. Averaged 19.1 points and shot 55.6 percent from the field, including an eye-popping 50.7 percent (69 of 136) from 3-point range. Even made 109 of his 134 free-throw attempts.

Laveechie Williams, Cedar Rapids Washington: He and Cordell Pemsl of Dubuque Wahlert (an Iowa recruit) were the only players in the Mississippi Valley Conference to average a double-double. Scored at a 14-point clip and averaged 10.5 rebounds, which placed second in Class 4A.

Ethan Wyant, Jesup: Tremendous junior season for the 5-11 junior guard. Averaged 18.3 points per game and shot 63 percent from the field. J-Hawks qualified for state tournament, losing in the first round in Class 2A.

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