Familiarity key for Bohannon and Pemsl
By Tyler Devine
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Part of being a freshman in college is learning to play with new teammates.
For Iowa freshmen Cordell Pemsl and Jordan Bohannon, that adjustment has been easy because they aren't new teammates in one respect.
Bohannon and Pemsl played together on the Martin Brothers A.A.U team in high school, along with fellow Hawkeye freshman Ryan Kriener. The chemistry they formed on the A.A.U. circuit is now transferring to college.
Bohannon and Pemsl Both both made their first career starts on Tuesday against Notre Dame and performed well. The 6-foot Bohannon made seven 3-points baskets and scored 23 points, while also dishing out seven assists and commiting just one turnover in 32 minutes of action. Pemsl, a 6-8 forward, added 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting. The former Dubuque Wahlert standout currently leads the Big Ten in shooting percentage.
Bohannon and Pemsl formed an effective inside-outside combination against Notre Dame. They looked comfortable playing together, and sometimes, they knew ecactly where the other would be on the court.
"We played together for three or four years on the A.A.U. circuit," Bohannon said Friday. "We traveled around the country and that comes with being on the bus for 24 hours straight going to Florida so we have a lot of great memories that you don't really forget and that contributes a lot of chemistry.
"It helps knowing we've played together so long, we've been together so long, a lot of trips and a lot of A.A.U. tournaments. To have a lot of experience together prior to coming here I think that really helps when we're on the court with each other. He hasn't changed much. I don't know if you could tell from the Notre Dame game but he's pretty high energy, he really gets into it and that's one of the things that I really like about him. It helps knowing wherever he is on the court I can get him the ball."
If Bohannon, a former Linn-Mar star, were a quarterback and the 6-foot-8 Pemsl were a receiver, the two would have timing routes down to a science.
"There were a few times in that last game where I was going down the floor and a pass that he might have made to someone else that resulted in a turnover I knew where the ball was going to be and he knew I was going to be there for the catch," Pemsl said. "I just think from playing together in high school a couple years and being good friends all throughout high school. We know each other's tendencies and what we're going to do. We just try to get it done as much as we can on the court to produce."
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery has known Bohannon and Pemsl for as long as Bohannon and Pemsl have known each other. McCaffery has seen both of them play enough to appreciate their mature approach to the game.
"It's interesting with those two because I've been watching them since they were in eighth grade," McCaffery said. "My perspective on both of those guys is a little bit different. I've seen them in enough situations to know what they are made of, more so than what their game is. So I don't look at them as young. I just look at them as two guys that I know can really play and I trust them.
"You know, my responsibility is to get them to trust themselves, and they both do. And to know and understand that if they do make a mistake, you've got to have complete amnesia and just come right back and do something positive for your team, and they both do everything they can to make that happen."
Bohannon and Pemsl will make their second starts on Saturday when Iowa faces Omaha at 1 p.m. at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Pemsl's production at power forward will be important as Iowa's plays without fellow freshman forward Tyler Cook, who is out for several weeks with a broken bone in his finger.
Iowa is 3-4 overall, marking the first time since McCaffery's first season in 2010 that Iowa has a record below .500 at this stage of the season.