'I'll always be a Golden Grizzly:' Oakland star Trey Townsend picks transfer destination

The Trey Townsend magical mystery tour has reached its final destination.

Townsend, who starred for Oakland for four years and recently helped lead the Golden Grizzlies to the best season in program history, will finish his college career at the University of Arizona. Townsend and Oakland head coach Greg Kampe both confirmed Townsend's next stop to The News on Wednesday.

Townsend, 21, had made multiple official campus visits as one of the hottest targets on the transfer market, including to Arizona and Ohio State. His final choice came down to those two schools.

"It was a relieving thing, once I finally obviously landed on the one spot," Townsend told The News on Wednesday. "It was a very stressful past couple days, especially as the list started narrowing down.

"It was hard to make a decision, but it's relieving and I'm happy with what I chose."

Townsend also made an unofficial visit to Michigan, to meet with new head coach Dusty May, and he spoke on the phone with Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo, but he canceled his visit to East Lansing this week. Michigan State was interested in both Townsend and fellow forward Frankie Fidler from the University of Omaha; Fidler committed to Michigan State on Tuesday, a day after Townsend's visit to MSU was canceled.

Townsend had significant interest from at least a dozen other schools at the power-conference level.

At Arizona, Townsend will help fill the void left by forward Keshad Johnson, who averaged 11.5 points and 5.9 rebounds as a senior. Johnson is expected to be a second-round pick in the NBA Draft.

Arizona was one of the first schools to reach out to Townsend, and staff visited him at home once the dead period was lifted. That made a good first impression. Then, there's the tradition of Arizona basketball, which the last three NCAA Tournaments has been a 1 seed, a 2 seed and a 2 seed.

"They're always a top team in the country," Townsend said. "I felt comfortable with them from Day 1."

In the end, Arizona won the Townsend sweepstakes over Ohio State, which made a spirited and late push, visiting Townsend over the past week. Ohio State had its appeal, in the Big Ten, and with the Buckeyes recently landing Micah Parrish from San Diego State. Parrish, a Detroiter, played with Townsend at Oakland.

Townsend's mom also attended dental school at Ohio State.

"Once it got narrowed down to Arizona and Ohio State, I just had built great relationships with both staffs," he said. "There was no wrong decision I felt I could make in this whole process, which is a comforting thing, knowing it was going to be tough telling a school, 'No.' I've been trusting myself.

"I wish them nothing but the best," Townsend said of Ohio State.

Townsend, 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds, is coming off a stellar fourth season at Oakland, averaging 17.3 points and 8.1 rebounds in being named the Horizon League player of the year. He also was named MVP of the Horizon League tournament, after scoring 38 in a championship-game victory over Milwaukee to earn the Golden Grizzlies their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2011. In the NCAA Tournament, Townsend posted double-doubles in a win over Kentucky and an overtime loss over N.C. State, to draw significant interest in the transfer market.

Townsend is an Oxford native whose parents, Skip and Nicole Leigh, both played basketball at Oakland. Since the age of 8, Townsend wanted to play for Kampe, and he did for four years. He earned his degree, and his No. 4 someday will hang from the rafters at the O'Rena.

For now, for once, he's no longer an Oakland Golden Grizzly, which is, admittedly, a strange feeling.

"It's definitely weird to think about it. It'll be a lot different when I'm not coming to campus in the end of June, and wearing different colors," Townsend said. "That place will always be a special place for me, a second home.

"I'll always be a Golden Grizzly. I can't appreciate enough what that experience meant to me."

Townsend considering transferring after his third season at Oakland, but came back in hopes of leading the school he grew up rooting for to its fourth NCAA Tournament. He did just that, and helped spark a stunning win over Kentucky for Oakland's first-ever win in the Round of 64.

During the NCAA Tournament run, Kampe routinely referred to Townsend as "Mr. Oakland." Townsend always bashfully shrugged off that moniker, saying that belongs to Kampe, who just finished his 40th season at Oakland.

After this season ended, Townsend declared for the NBA Draft and hired an agent, to test the process, but he always was expected to play a fifth collegiate season and take advantage of his Name, Image and Likeness opportunities. Townsend, who averaged 16.5 points as a junior and 13.3 points as a sophomore, was expected to get an NIL deal worth well into the six figures by transferring to a power conference. Even so, he left open the possibility of returning to Oakland, where he was met on Senior Night with chants of, "One! More! Year!"

Arizona, coached by Tommy Lloyd, will play in the Big 12 Conference next season. The Wildcats are coming off an appearance in the Sweet 16, falling to Clemson as a No. 2 seed.

Townsend, who was named the Lou Henson Award winner as the top mid-major player in college basketball, is one of several big roster losses for Oakland this offseason, along with Blake Lampman, Jack Gohlke and Rocket Watts, who have graduated and have exhausted their college eligibility.

tpaul@detroitnews.com

@tonypaul1984