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Iowa’s Pemsl undergoes sports hernia surgery

Northern Iowa v Iowa

DES MOINES, IA- DECEMBER 17: Forward Cordell Pemsl #35 of the Iowa Hawkeyes drives to the basket during the first half against forward Bennett Koch #25 of the Northern Iowa Panthers on December 17, 2016 in the Hy-Vee Classic at Well Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)

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One of Iowa’s top young players will spend much of this summer on the shelf.

Hawkeye sophomore Cordell Pemsl underwent surgery for a sports hernia and is expected to be off the floor for two months, the school announced Wednesday.

“I spoke to Cordell after the surgery and everything went great,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said in a statement released by the school. “We’re happy that he will be back on the court later this summer.”

The Hawkeyes are confident that the timetable will have Pemsl healed up in time for the program’s foreign trip in August.

Pemsl is one of last year’s five-man freshman class that helped Iowa push itself to the brink of the bubble last year with a 19-15 records. He started 14 games, averaging 8.9 points and 5 rebounds per game while setting a program record by shooting 61.7 percent from the floor.

Missing two months certainly isn’t ideal and could hamper the 6-foot-9, 250-pound forward’s development and conditioning, but having the foreign trip - and the additional practices that come with it - should help mitigate the time away.