The Milligan men’s basketball squad picked itself up another Cyclone on Wednesday.
Elizabethton senior Hayden Townsend, in front of family and friends, inked his name with the Buffs.
“Milligan is close to home, and I have a lot of friends there,” Townsend said about why he chose Milligan. “Milligan has a great community on campus. It is just a good place to be.”
During his time at Milligan, Townsend will be joined by former Cyclone teammates like Tyler Nichols and Bo Pless who both compete for the Buff varsity.
“I feel like I will be able to fit in better with them there,” said Townsend. “I think I will have a smooth transition.”
For the past four years, Townsend has played under Elizabethton head basketball coach Lucas Honeycutt who said that Townsend brings dependability to the basketball court.
“Hayden was one of those kids that were always dependable,” said Honeycutt. “He has good character kid. He played a lot of minutes for us.
“One of his greatest strengths was being able to take somebody off the dribble and finish at the rim,” Honeycutt added. “We thought that his physical basketball strength had really came along his junior and senior year.”
Milligan basketball coach Bill Robinson said he’s excited to have Townsend come on board.
“One of the nice things about living a half a mile from Elizabethton is that I get to see a lot of games here,” said Robinson. “I have been watching him for four years. I knew the type of kid he was. Everything thing that I learned about him was positive. I always look to see if a player will be good in the classroom along with playing well on the court.”
During his time at Milligan, Townsend will study mechanical engineering.