Arizona men’s basketball is in the market for a power forward, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that one of the top available transfers at the position is taking a visit to Arizona.
Oakland transfer Trey Townsend is set to take an official visit to Arizona starting Tuesday, according to Joe Tipton. The 2023-24 Horizon League Player of the Year is also planning to visit Ohio State and Louisville this week and has already taken a visit to Michigan.
Oakland transfer forward Trey Townsend (@treyt430), the Horizon League POY, has scheduled the following official visits, his agent @georgelangberg of GSL Sports Group confirms to @On3Sports:
Arizona – April 16-17
Ohio State – April 18-19
Louisville – April 20-21… pic.twitter.com/bLTb23KXqY— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) April 16, 2024
Townsend, a 6-foot-6 senior, averaged 17.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists for the Golden Grizzlies, leading Oakland to the NCAA Tournament. He scored 17 points in Oakland’s first round upset of Kentucky.
Townsend enters the NCAA transfer portal as one of the most experienced players in college basketball, having started 129 career games at Oakland. He is a career 50 percent shooter and last season shot 37.5 percent from 3-point range. Townsend shot a career-high 77.9 percent from the free throw line.
Arizona is in need of a power forward to help the fill the hole left by Keshad Johnson. Townsend is undersized at the position but plays with a similar aggression.
Here is how The Athletic’s C.J. Moore describes Townsend for the site’s transfer portal rankings.
“Townsend is a power forward who is strong enough to play some small-ball center. He operates a lot from the elbows and the mid-post, where likes to bully his way to the basket. He’s smart once he gets there, playing off two feet and using shot fakes or a shoulder to the chest to create space to score. He struggles some to finish over length, which we saw in Oakland’s second-round NCAA Tournament loss to NC State when he went for 30 points, but was just 9-of-22 inside the arc. He rarely shoots from outside the paint; he made 12 3s all season — two of which were against the Wolfpack — and has shot just 31.4 percent for his career.
His body type and productivity is reminiscent of former Harvard star Chris Ledlum, who averaged 18.8 points in his final season at Harvard and saw his average cut in half at St. John’s when he transferred up. Townsend could fit in the right system, much like Kansas’ K.J. Adams. Ideally, Townsend’s new team would pair him with a center who can shoot.”
Arizona’s up-tempo, offensive-minded style could appeal to a player like Townsend. One of the UA’s pitches in attracting Johnson last year was giving the San Diego State transfer the ability to show off his shooting touch, particularly from the outside. Arizona could make a similar pitch to Townsend.
Arizona has four open scholarships to fill, though one may go to Caleb Love or Pelle Larsson if either chooses to come back.