 Townsend was named to the All-Big Ten team and led Michigan in scoring each year from 1936-1938.Considered the greatest Michigan basketball player in the era before Cazzie Russell, Townsend was six feet, four inches (102 mm) tall.Known as the "Houdini of the Hardwood," Townsend scored 108 points in 1936 and was the only sophomore selected for the All-Big Ten team.