Iowa Basketball: Taking a Look at the Class of 2016

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Mar 20, 2016; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes players react from the bench against the Villanova Wildcats during the second half in the second round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports /

Cordell Pemsl is fresh off winning a state title with his Dubuque Wahlert teammates in Class 3A this past basketball season. Hopefully the winning mentality carries over for him into a Hawkeye uniform.

I actually got to witness Pemsl play live in early February against his future teammate, Connor McCaffery, and the Iowa City West Trojans. He saw double teams all night from the Trojans and did a decent job of getting out of them. He did struggle on some occasions and showed some frustration at points with his teammates.

He was a beast on the glass, as he notched a double double in what ended up being a loss. He impressed me down low, but did miss some point blank shots that I thought he should’ve probably got to go. I didn’t get to see much of a jump shot, but he looks like he has one from what I saw in pre-game warmups.

He’s rated as a three star player by Scout and at 6’7″ and 220 pounds he has a Big Ten ready body. He’ll be able to absorb contact from defenders without being totally bothered when he looks for his shot. He may play right away and my guess would be he’d fit in at the four spot, but would most likely back up Uhl or Wagner.

It’s fair to say that either he or Kriener will be playing some, while the other takes on a redshirt season. I worry a little bit about his transition defense and his ability to get a hand up on open shooters outside, but there aren’t too many flaws in his game to be totally honest.

Next: Jordan Bohannon