Kennedy Boys Basketball

Beyer joins Kennedy basketball team

The Kennedy Cougars have a new player on the basketball team who looks vaguely familiar, but it's hard to tell without his helmet and shoulder pads.

He's a phenomenal athlete who can jump out of the gym, a 6-foot-7 high jumper during the track season and a kid who can play just about any spot on the football field and play it very well.

Yes, it might be, it could be, it is -- Shaun Beyer, the captain of the Class 4A all-state football team and the proud recipient of a football scholarship to the University of Iowa.

Beyer has never played basketball at Kennedy before, but he's decided to give it a try this season as a senior to see if he can help Coach Jon McKowen's club and have some fun.

Beyer rested for a week after the football season and practiced for the first time Monday with the basketball team. He does not plan to play in this weekend's games in Sioux City and Spirit Lake due to a family affair, but he plans to be in uniform next week for the Cougars.

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Kennedy cagers welcome gridders to team

Jon McKowen cheered for the Cedar Rapids Kennedy football team all the way to the Class 4A championship game in the UNI-Dome Monday night and relished the team's success along the way.

Now he's glad the football season is finally over so several of those guys can trade their cleats for sneakers and join McKowen's basketball team at Kennedy.

Matt Gardner, Nick Duehr, Carter Krall and Kai Jenkins will be making the switch from football to basketball in the next few days after they've had a chance to mentally and physically recover from the rigors of a long season.

They'll get a late start in basketball with the season opener set for next Friday, Dec. 4 against Sioux City North on the road, but McKowen feels the benefits of a successful football season far out-weigh the detriments in terms of school pride and spirit.

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Olejniczak will coach Kennedy sophs

Lon Olejniczak has been recommended as the new sophomore boys basketball coach at Cedar Rapids Kennedy, head coach Jon McKowen confirmed Friday.

His official hiring is pending board approval.

Olejniczak, originally from Decorah, played football and baseball at the University of Iowa from 1979 to 1983. He is an executive at Transamerica and his family lives in the Kennedy school district.

Larry Williams, Jeff Hrubes and Ben Ethier will be varsity assistants for the Kennedy basketball team next season. Drew Heitland, a 2014 Kennedy grad who plays football at Coe, will be the assistant coach for the sophomore basketball team.

Mike Green and Chris Gehrls will serve as freshman coaches.

Manning commits to Wisconsin-La Crosse

Brendon Manning of Cedar Rapids Kennedy has committed to play college basketball at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

Manning, a 6-foot-4 forward, made his decision Monday night. Wisconsin-La Crosse is an NCAA Division III school that competes in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Manning led Kennedy in scoring and rebounding this season at 14.6 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. He shot 57.0 percent from the field and had 43 steals.

Manning was named first team all-Metro, first team all-MVC and third team all-state by the Iowa Newspaper Association.

Kennedy finished 18-6 and reached the quarterfinals of the Class 4A state tournament.

Manning's older brother, Jake, was a senior at Wisconsin-Platteville this season.