TRANSFER UPDATE: Arizona basketball lands forward Trey Townsend
Wednesday morning turned into a busy day for Arizona basketball as it was able to go into the transfer portal and snag one of the most sought after players in Oakland transfer forward Trey Townsend, who picked the Wildcats over Ohio State. Townsend announced his commitment to Tommy Lloyd and the program on Instagram.
The 6-foot-6 228-pound forward spent this past season being a key player for Oakland where he averaged 17.3 points and 8.1 rebounds while shooting 45% from the field and 38% from deep helping the Golden Grizzlies to an NCAA Tournament berth.
This is a major win for the Wildcats as Townsend was at the top of the coaching staff priority list. During his visit to Tucson last week, it was all hands on deck as the whole staff was with him on his visit making it clear how important he was to Arizona.
In the NCAA Tournament, Townsend was able to go off in two games with it all starting in an upset win over 3-seed Kentucky where he recorded a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds while going 6 of 15 from the field to go along with his four assists.
Then, Townsend took his game to another level against NC State where Oakland fell 79-73 in overtime scoring a team-high 30 points and 13 rebounds while shooting 11 of 25 from the field.
When you look at his game, Townsend is the perfect replacement for Keshad Johnson, who finished up his final season of college with Arizona averaging 11.5 points and 5.9 rebounds while shooting 53% from the field.
Like Johnson, Townsend is highly skilled around the basket and shot 46% on 2-point attempts and 55% on shots at the rim, which his where 59% of his field goal attempts come from. Plus, the two are similar in the fact that they have the ability to keep the defense honest by stretching the floor.
Arizona needed to find a replacement for Johnson that would bring the same level of toughness to the starting lineup and the staff was successful in doing so with the addition of Townsend.
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