Iowa basketball player Cordell Pemsl accused of drunk driving
Iowa forward Cordell Pemsl drives to the hoop during the Iowa/Guilford College basketball game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday, Nov. 4, 2018. The Hawkeyes defeated the Quakers, 103-46.
September 20, 2019
An Iowa basketball player has been accused of drunk driving early on Sept. 20.
Cordell Pemsl, 22, 2401 Highway 6 E., was charged Sept. 20 with first-offense OWI.
According to the arrest affidavit, an officer stopped a Ford Escape after the driver failed to obey a traffic-control device and improperly turned left. The vehicle was also stopped for a cracked tail light.
The affidavit describes Pemsl as having “bloodshot, watery eyes, impaired speech, impaired balance, was wearing bar wristbands, and admitted to drinking.”
Pemsl reportedly failed a breath test, the affidavit said, and he had a .151 percent breath-alcohol concentration.
First-offense OWI is a serious misdemeanor.
Pemsl will be suspended from all basketball-related activities indefinitely and is subject to the rules and regulations of the University of Iowa Student-Athlete Code of Conduct and rules of the basketball program.
Pemsl only played in two games last season, taking a redshirt year after undergoing surgery to remove hardware around his knee from a previous surgery.
The Dubuque native has averaged 7.2 points and 4.7 rebounds in 67 career games.
