Former Ohio State forward Seth Towns commits to Howard
COLUMBUS — Former Ohio State forward Seth Towns, who has played only one season of college basketball since 2018, is continuing his athletic and academic career at Howard.
Just about two months before the start of last season, he announced that he was “stepping away” from the game after what he described as summer setbacks and “tough conversations” with Ohio State coaches and medical personnel.
But, now, Towns is resuming his college basketball career in Washington, D.C. It’s a career that started in 2016 at Harvard, where he won Ivy League Player of the Year during the 2017-18 season.
Although he is 25 years old, Towns still has NCAA eligibility to use at Howard because of (1) the COVID-19 waiver and (2) medical redshirts. A slew of injury complications have hamstrung his playing career, first at Harvard and then at Ohio State.
Towns missed his final two seasons at Harvard because of knee injury issues. At Ohio State, his hometown school, the former Northland High School star was sidelined the entire 2021-22 season after undergoing preseason back surgery.
Towns did play the season prior at Ohio State. The 6-foot-9, 230-pound forward appeared in 25 games for the Buckeyes in 2020-21, averaging 10.8 minutes, 3.8 points and 2.2 rebounds per contest while chipping in 15 3-pointers at a 34.1% clip from beyond the arc.
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Although he didn’t sniff the double-digit scoring figures he notched at Harvard — he averaged 18.6 points per game in Ivy League play as a sophomore — Towns did make an impact for the Buckeyes, scoring 10 or more points five times, including in a Big Ten Tournament overtime win against Purdue. But Ohio State fell short of the conference tournament title that season and, despite earning a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, was bounced by 15th-seeded Oral Roberts in the opening round.
Because Towns was a late scratch for the 2022-23 season, the Buckeyes had an open scholarship spot last season. Head coach Chris Holtmann and his staff eventually awarded that scholarship to Citadel transfer and preferred walk-on Owen Spencer midseason.
With Towns’ transfer to Howard, he has the opportunity to finish his college basketball career on a positive note.
Plus, the Bison are on the heels of their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1991-92. The program posted its most wins (22) since the turn of the century last season, went 11-3 in MEAC competition and won the conference tournament.
