Bee Boys Basketball Player of the Year Townes joins elite circle of players at Modesto Christian

Before getting into the teeth of this story, how about a little trivia?

Name the five Modesto Christian High School boys basketball players over the last two decades who have been four-year varsity starters.

If your first guess was Chuck Hayes, go to the back of the class. Despite being in his 10th season in the NBA now, Hayes wasn’t a starter his freshman year.

The first four: Michael Porter, Adrian Oliver, Reeves Nelson and Raymond Bowles.

Joining that group is The Bee’s 2015 Stanislaus District Player of the Year, Anthony Townes.

It’s hardly a trivial matter, since the previous four accepted Division I scholarships and broke into starting lineups – Porter with Kentucky, Oliver with Washington and then San Jose State, Nelson with UCLA and Bowles with Pacific, where Townes will enroll this fall on a basketball scholarship.

And here’s another reason why it isn’t to be taken lightly. To all the above, being a four-year starter means you play against several elite national recruits. As a sophomore, Townes faced off against Orlando Magic rookie Aaron Gordon, then a senior at Archbishop Mitty. The NorCal Open Division title game on March 21 marked the fourth time Townes went head-to-head against Bishop O’Dowd’s Ivan Rabb, considered by some to be the country’s top big-man recruit.

“You won’t get the experience of playing against the nation’s best players at any other school,” said Townes, who averaged 19.7 points and 10 rebounds for the NorCal Open Division finalists. “I played against Aaron Gordon, and he’s in the NBA now. Ivan Rabb is the top player in the country, and I would not have had the chance to go against them anywhere but here.”

Townes’ four years at MC have coincided with significant changes in the program. The establishment of regional Open Division play came in his sophomore season, and MC is the only program to win Open Division games in each of its first three years.

More than that, Townes was the cornerstone of a team that made the transition from being coached by Gary Porter, the program’s patriarch, to Richard Midgley, who took sole control of the reins this season after serving as Porter’s co-head coach for two seasons.

“We loved the way Coach Porter coached us, the way he got us all riled up to play and got us going,” Townes said. Midgley “coaches in a much more detailed way, and we also need that. It’s all worked out. It was great to get two years of the detailed approach to get ready for college practices.”

Townes said the transition between coaches and their styles was pretty easy. In fact, the first day of next season’s practices might force an even larger adjustment for Midgley.

“Anthony’s been here for as long as I’ve been coaching here, so it’s going to be weird once he graduates,” Midgley said. “He brings so much to the team – not just points and rebounds but defensive energy. He’s such a positive and encouraging presence with his teammates. He’s had a major impact on our program and is a lot of the reason for our success the last three or four years.”

But Townes has been forced to make major adjustments to his game every season. As a slender 6-foot-6 center his freshman season, he relied on his raw athleticism. The questions people asked then were along the lines of, “How tall will he be once he’s a senior?” And, “How much is he willing to improve?”

The answers? He’s gained about 25 pounds but is no taller. Yet his game has grown nearly incrementally from year to year. He finishes smoothly around the basket with both hands, can take a post pass and dribble-drive or shoot from 15 feet, and his patience on defense means he’s seldom in foul trouble.

“He’s one of the most coachable kids I’ve ever been around,” Midgley said. “You tell him to do something and say he needs to rep it 100 times, and he’s doing it. That’s a lot of the reason for his success.”

Townes also has taken seriously his role of team captain, which is something he said he picked up from former MC teammates.

“I saw what they did when they were the captains, and I’m going to do what I can to pass along all of that knowledge to the guys who will be doing it next year,” Townes said.

Two of those former Crusaders’ captains – current Pacific starters Bowles and T.J. Wallace – were instrumental in the recruiting process that landed Townes as a Tiger. Townes made the decision early in the recruiting process, turning down offers from San Jose State and Weber State to stay close to home.

“It took a lot of pressure off me, but it wasn’t a difficult decision,” Townes said. “Deciding early meant I didn’t have to think about it at all during the season.”

But he has given considerable thought to his future. Going to Pacific will give Townes a chance to chase his goal of becoming a dentist, with UOP’s Dugoni School of Dentistry consistently ranked among the nation’s best.

“With T.J. and Ray already there and playing, both of them talked to me about how great it would be to be able to play together again,” Townes said. “We meshed together so well in high school, and I’m looking forward to re-establishing that. The coaches I spoke with are great people. (Head coach) Ron Verlin is a genuine guy. The school also is a perfect fit because it fits what I want to do academically. It’s close to home – it all works.”

This story was originally published March 28, 2015 at 10:49 PM with the headline "Bee Boys Basketball Player of the Year Townes joins elite circle of players at Modesto Christian."