Whereas soccer season is in full swing, it doesn’t imply we will’t dabble in some basketball prep forward of the primary tip-off on November third! Subsequent up is a man whose greatest sport got here at the perfect time: Tate Sage!
(Our recurrently established timing will proceed tomorrow)
#24 – Tate Sage, G, 6’7”, 210 lbs
2nd yr; Weatherford, OK; Weatherford
6: 37 video games, 6.1 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 0.7% APG, 49.3% FG, 38.9% 3P, 71.1% FT, 16.1 MPG
Early in Tate Sage’s Iowa profession, he was among the many first guys off the bench. It was notable on the time as a result of sizzling shot switch Brendan Hausen was anticipated to be a main sub. Sage didn’t do a lot in his time towards Robert Morris however merely getting on the courtroom felt like a giant deal given the freshman was plucked from relative obscurity.
All through final season, Sage flashed with only a few freshman moments. He reached double digit scoring in 8 video games, with a 19-point outing towards Nebraska when helped Iowa advance to the Elite Eight for first time in almost 40 years. He added 8 rebounds & 3 assists with Stan Van Gundy persistently gushing over his capacity. In Iowa’s stab on the Closing 4, he was a shiny spot alongside Stirtz as he went 2/3 from deep and made all 4 of his free throws.
In a approach, how he had to assist the Hawkeyes was straightforward final yr. Are available off the bench, hustle, play sound basketball, take open photographs and hit them at a superb clip. He surpassed his recruiting profile by a large margin and it was straightforward to see what Ben McCollum noticed in him. He may need a “participant of the yr” kind of trajectory at Drake.
However the Massive Ten is a unique animal. Going from bench participant to probably starter is a large soar. With the Hawks dropping 50% of their photographs & scoring from final yr, he’s going to must occupy a few of that vacuum after being eighth in FGA on final yr’s workforce. With no Bennett Stirtz, he’ll even have to regulate his function a bit as extra of a secondary ball handler, one thing Ben McCollum views he’s able to, given some midseason feedback.
Whereas he didn’t have the freshman season of a fellow diamond within the tough in Aaron White, he may see an identical profession development play out. Iowa will want him to carry out effectively if they give the impression of being to construct upon final season’s success.