Pemsl Wants To Be Loud, But At The Right Time, For Hawkeyes
Cordell Pemsl wants to be loud.
Not too loud.
“I’ve done that a few times,” the Iowa junior forward said Wednesday, laughing. “Probably more than I should.”
Pemsl wants to be the emotional leader for the Hawkeyes, and early in the season that’s something he thinks they need.
Slowly, Pemsl is working his way back into Iowa’s rotation. He missed almost all of last season after undergoing surgery on his knee, and then he missed the first two games of the season as a suspension for his September arrest for drunken driving.
“I’m still trying to figure out where I can put myself in this lineup with this team,” Pemsl said. “I feel like I can do a lot.”
Pemsl missed Iowa’s exhibition game, then missed the season opener against SIU-Edwardsville. He has averaged 11.7 minutes in the last two games, with just three points and three rebounds.
“I hadn’t played a game in over a year,” Pemsl said. “I felt like I was caught up in that sense, just being able to go out and do what I could do. I think I’m just now trying to get back in my groove.”
“You know, he's been here a while so he knows what we want,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said last week. “He also is a guy that when he's on the bench or at practice, like he takes it all in, so when he comes in he knows what he with need. He's always going to provide some toughness, but sometimes tough guys aren't skilled. He's got skill.”
Pemsl played in just two games last season. It looked like his season was over in late November — a press release was sent out saying that — but he came back and played against Iowa State, with eight points and six rebounds in the win.
Pemsl underwent surgery later in December to remove a plate from his knee that had been there since surgery in high school.
Now he’s easing his way back into playing time.
“It’s still early, obviously,” Pemsl said. “We’re only a couple of games into the year. I’m getting more confidence every day.”
“He's been great,” McCaffery said. “Yeah, he's been very upbeat. He's working hard. He's always been a team guy because he's a skilled big. He can dribble and pass. He's always been able to score, but he hasn't been scoring as much because he's been shutting people up. He's a really good screener.”
“He just has a really good sense of what's necessary at any particular time.”
Asked what he can bring to the Hawkeyes, Pemsl didn’t hesitate with his answer.
“Just the emotion of the game,” he said. “I feel like, at certain times, we’ve become a little lax as a team. Like I said, it’s early. We’ve been tested, obviously. But it’s different at this point in the season than it is in December or early January. I think just bringing that energy off the bench, being a vocal leader.
“I think our team has (toughness). I find myself a guy who shows that. I kind of wear my emotion on my sleeve. Sometimes you need that. Dive for a loose ball, or get up and start yelling, something like that. It can be contagious.”
But Pemsl has learned when to speak.
“You don’t want to be the guy who’s yelling for no reason.,” he said. “You know, being dumb on the floor. You have to pick your times. It’s situations where you get guys up, encourage guys, get the crowd into it, certain times in the past.:
“I just think the older I get, the more I realize you have to pick your poison, pick your battles.”
Pemsl said he made a mistake on the night he was arrested.
“Honestly, it was a lesson for me to just be smart about decision-making,” he said. “’m a grown-up, I’m 22 years old, I know what’s right and wrong, and I chose to wrong that night.
“My teammates were supportive. They understand that mistakes happen. Obviously it wasn’t an easy time for myself or my team, or the program itself. I know what I did wrong, I learned from my mistake. I really appreciated the way the team opened up to me. I’m just glad to be back. Put a foot forward in my life, just be the best I can be.”
