Jeff Pospisil is an eternal optimist.

Graduation claimed the five seniors who helped Cedar Valley Christian compile a successful 14-9 record last year, leaving the cupboard practically bare, but Pospisil looks on the bright side as he rebuilds the program.

"It's going to be a successful season," he said during practice last Friday. "We're going to have good kids, they're going to do a great job.

"I don't know if we're going to win any games, but they're going to go out and give it a good effort," he said. "And we're going to try and come up with game plans that give us a chance. It's a neat group of kids."

It's also an inexperienced group of kids.

"Only three of them have played before. So we are starting from scratch," said Pospisil, who is also the principal at Cedar Valley Christian.

The Huskies featured a strong senior class last season that had played together for years with Jeremy Strutz (17.3 ppg), Will Muhlbach (16.9), Jon Landis (11.4), Spencer Zielke (9.3) and Evan Koch (6.7).

"I knew that this day was coming, but it will be OK," said Pospisil.

A few younger players from last year's squad also are missing, because they changed schools or decided not to play basketball this season.

Pospisil has 10 players on the team and plans to build the club around Tom Scroggs, Kenan Ulmer and Michael Johnson.

"Tom will be my veteran," the coach said. "He's one who actually got minutes. He was my sixth man last year with those five seniors."

Ulmer was the quarterback of Cedar Valley's football team this year.

"He's going to work really, really hard and give me everything he's got," Pospisil said. "He's going to get rebounds and play defense. He'll be one of our leaders."

Cedar Valley Christian, a Class 1A school, will be competing in the Tri-Rivers Conference this year. "It's been great so far," Pospisil said. "We're building a relationship with those teams."

The Huskies face Cedar Rapids Washington in the Metro Sports Report Classic Saturday at 7:15 p.m. at Kirkwood Community College in a Pride Challenge event. The Huskies will open the regular season Dec. 2 at Meskwaki.