By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Tate Sage got to go back to Oklahoma for a few days after going through his first few weeks of workouts with the Iowa men’s basketball team.

“I was talking to my dad when I went home,” Sage said on Tuesday. “It was like, I’ve gotten so much better in just these three, three and a half weeks, whatever we’ve been here, just the level of intensity and the physicality and the speed, I’ve improved a lot. 

“That’s exactly what I wanted when I came here. So it’s good to see it happening.”

Sage, a 6-foot-7, 200-pound freshman guard from Weatherford, Oklahoma, likes what he has found with the Hawkeyes. He originally committed to Drake and head coach Ben McCollum, but when McCollum took the Iowa job, Sage decided to follow him.

“I loved Drake. I was settled on that,” Sage said. “(McCollum) took the job at Iowa and he called me and said, ‘Hey, you want to go?’  I love Coach Mac. I love his system. I didn’t even take a visit here. I just wanted to play for Coach Mac.”

It did take a little while for McCollum to call, but Sage understood.

“I knew it was coming, because I know what kind of people these are and the person Coach Mac is, so I wasn’t really worried,” he said. “And then once that call came in, really a big sigh of relief for sure.”

Once he got to campus, Sage said, “I just loved it.”

“The city is great,” Sage said. “The facilities are great, people are great. And then the basketball side of things is like anything you’re new to — you’ve got to get used to it and get into a routine.”

Sage was named to the Oklahoma Coaches Association Large West All-State team and The Oklahoman’s Class 4A All-State team after averaging 13.1 points per game at Weatherford High School, helping his team win a state championship. He was part of a program that won 110 games in his four seasons, reaching the state championship game three times. Sage averaged 11 points and 4.4 rebounds as a junior and 10.2 points and 4.5 rebounds as a sophomore.

Sage said McCollum’s system is a perfect fit for his game.

“The shooting, the screens, the European-like style of (basketball) … I just knew when I came here, he could develop me to something greater than I could be,” Sage said.

McCollum likes how Sage fits into his system as well.

“Tate can shoot,” he said. “He’s a good cutter, he has good feel for the game, plays off of people really well, and he’s got great length.”

Sage is also going through the usual summer pains for freshmen of adjusting to playing with and against older, more physical players.

“Coming in, it was physicality and the speed, trying to get used to that,” he said. “So the weight room is a big thing. I’m trying to put on some pounds here. And there’s just getting kind of used to just how the ball rolls, the speed, and just playing in the game, kind of figuring out how I fit in the system.”

There is an intensity to McCollum’s system, on and off the court, one that requires plenty of communication. It’s something Sage has grown into as well.

“I wouldn’t say I’m not a talkative person, but I’m not overly talkative,” he said. “And so one of these things we do, we bring energy, we talk, and you know, that’s something I had to get used to,” Sage said. “Allways talking, always encouraging, even when I’m tired. So yeah, it’s definitely something to get used to, but now that I’m used to it, I love it.”

Photo: Iowa freshman Tate Sage speaks with the media on Tuesday.