Michigan State basketball: Trey Townsend could be a legitimate transfer option

Trey Townsend played hero for Oakland in the Horizon and NCAA tournaments and he could be a transfer option for Michigan State basketball.

While our sights were set to Michigan State basketball in the NCAA Tournament, Oakland was busy making an impressive run (it’s a run to Oakland who never makes it this far) to the Round of 32, nearly knocking off NC State to make an improbable Sweet 16.

Unfortunately, that run was cut short in an overtime loss to the Wolfpack.

But during Oakland’s Horizon League and NCAA tournament runs, a couple of players stood out as heroes. Teams like Oakland don’t get this far in March without a little hero ball. Jack Gohlke was the big name everyone grew to know on a national level because of his wild 3-point shooting that downed Kentucky, but Trey Townsend was the team’s best player all year and averaged 23.5 points and 12.5 rebounds per game in the NCAA Tournament.

Townsend has a decision to make on a final season of college basketball: Does he stay at Oakland or does he head to a power conference?

According to Tony Paul of The Detroit News, there’s a good chance that he’ll be spending his last season of college hoops playing for a bigger program despite growing up watching and loving Oakland.

Oakland fans recently serenaded big man Trey Townsend with chants of: "One. More. Year."

That one more year, though, seems likely to be spent on the power-conference stage, where he's poised to cash in big-time — especially after this magical run.https://t.co/PPClYYEOXR

— Tony Paul | Detroit News (@TonyPaul1984) March 25, 2024

Townsend, an Oxford, Mich., native could very well hit the transfer portal soon and Michigan State would be wise to get in on the action. He’ll have plenty of potential suitors (everyone watched him drop 17 on Kentucky and 30 on NC State) but being the in-state program has to give Tom Izzo and MSU a leg up here. There would likely be some mutual interest there.

While he has yet to hit the portal, it feels inevitable at this point.

But would he fit in at Michigan State? Malik Hall is gone and Townsend is a very similar player with a similar build. Malik was 6-foot-8 and 220 pounds while Townsend stands 6-foot-6 and 228 pounds. Their games are also similar. They’re aggressive with the ball in their hands and get a lot of work done down on the block. Townsend actually attempted half the amount of 3-pointers that Malik did this season. He’s not a shooter, but he is effective down low and can hit his free throws (78 percent).

If Izzo wants an ideal replacement for Hall, Townsend would be the guy. The only problem here is that he wouldn’t stretch the floor like you would ideally want from a forward. He’d likely slide into that three role so Xavier Booker could play the four and hopefully Izzo addressed the center spot in the portal, but it would take away a lot of shooting from the lineup. Sure, he’d be aggressive in the post which is something Michigan State basketball desperately needs, but he’s not going to step out and hit three regularly — although he can hit them (38 percent on 12-of-32 this year).

No one would say “no thanks” to Townsend in a Spartan uniform, but you’d have to take the good (post production) with the bad (spacing). Is that worth it for Izzo and would that make the 2024-25 team better?