Greeley Basketball Star Matt Townsend May Continue Career At Yale

When it came to colleges, Horace Greeley basketball star Matt Townsend had plenty of great choices. Ivy League schools Yale, Penn, Harvard, Dartmouth and Princeton, in addition to a couple of Patriot League schools who were interested in having the 6-foot-6 Townsend play for them.

"I think a lot of the schools were offering along the same lines of great academics and athletic reputation but it was the coaching staff that differentiated Yale and made it stand out for me," Townsend, an incoming senior, said.

Townsend, who averaged 19.4 points per game last season for Greeley as a junior, said that he will most likely play power forward at Yale.

"I am happy with that, I can do some good things for them there," Townsend said. "For Greeley, I play center because I was the biggest one on that team but on my AAU team, the Westchester Hawks, I have been playing more power forward."

Townsend said it was a combination of factors that led to his decision to choose Yale. One of the major ones was being able to play for Yale coach James Jones.

"The school obviously has an excellent academic reputation and as an athletic program, I felt like I really could fit in with the players they had and the coaching staff," Townsend said. "Coach Jones, who's the head coach, is a great guy. He's the kind of guy you would want to play for. It was the combination of the coaching, the coaching staff and the academics."

Like for most players when they decide on choosing a school to play for in college, Townsend said deciding on what coach he was going to play for was very important.

"It's a significant consideration when you are deciding where you want to play for the next four years," Townsend said. "I really liked his energy, he's a great motivator. He has the ability to get his team going, to play hard and win. Off the court he is a great guy as well. He has a great personality."

One of the interesting things about Townsend's choice to attend Yale is that is where Butch Graves went to school. Graves is the father of Gibby and Teddy Graves, both who played with Townsend at Greeley last winter.

Gibby graduated this past June and Teddy will be a sophomore this coming school year for the Quakers.

Butch is the all-time leading scorer in Yale history with 2,090 points, which is third all-time in the Ivy League. He was drafted by the National Basketball Association's Philadelphia 76ers and played for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1984-85.

"That is a very cool connection," Townsend said. "We met him up there one weekend and he was able to show me around campus. It's definitely is neat so to speak to follow the footsteps of one of the all-time greats there or possibly the all-time great."

When asked if having a tour from Butch Graves swayed him to choose Yale Townsend explained it this way.

"It was definitely a nice addition to see the campus more in depth but the factors I mentioned previously were the most important," Townsend said.

When it comes to choosing a college, it can be a very complicated process but Townsend said that he was fortunate to have the assistance of Greeley coach Dave Fernandes.

"He's been a great supporter throughout this whole process," Townsend said. "His guidance has really been helpful. He emphasized just to consider all your options and what's best for you down the road."

Townsend has started for the Quakers since he was a freshman, has enjoyed his time playing for Fernandes and is looking forward to his senior campaign in Chappaqua. He admits however that playing AAU basketball, which most if not all college recruits take part in, was vital because it allowed him to be seen by more colleges than during the high-school season.

"I think development wise its important but it's even more important for the exposure it offers," Townsend said. "I would say less and less the high-school programs are getting less attention. The colleges are looking more to AAU programs for their scouting. So because of that its great exposure for all the players."