Trey Townsend transfers to Arizona after NCAA Tournament run with Oakland

Horizon League Player of the Year Trey Townsend will transfer from Oakland to Arizona, giving the Wildcats a portal boost with several of their key players from the 2023-24 team departing.

“Arizona checked all the boxes I was looking for during this process,” Townsend told ESPN on Wednesday. “I look forward to getting to Tucson and playing for coach Tommy Lloyd, who has a proven track record of producing NBA players similar to me.”

Townsend visited Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State before landing with Arizona, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.

The 6-foot-6, 228-pound forward averaged 17.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game while shooting at a 46% clip overall.

He saved his best games for the end of the year, including a 38-point performance in the Horizon League Championship game against Milwaukee. Then Townsend performed well with 17 poinst and 12 boards against No. 3 seed Kentucky as the Golden Grizzlies upset UK in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Townsend put up 30 points to go with 13 rebounds in an overtime loss to eventual Final Four squad North Carolina State in the second round.

Arizona will have room for Townsend to land a starting spot immediately with forwards Pelle Larsson and Keshad Johnson off to become professionals.

Forwards Paulius Murauskas and Filip Borovicanin have additionally entered the transfer portal, leaving the wing depth light.

The Wildcats do have four-star prospects Carter Bryant and Joson Sanon committed to add to the wing group along with Townsend.

Guard K.J. Lewis, who can play up as a small forward, has also kept his college eligibility while testing the NBA Draft waters.

As of Wednesday, Arizona’s significant returning players include point guard Jaden Bradley, Lewis, backup center Motiejus Krivas and potentially guard Caleb Love, who has kept his college eligibility intact.

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