Howard’s 70-67 win over Delaware State on Saturday to win the MEAC Tournament title was not only notable because it secured a second-consecutive March Madness appearance for the Bison, but also because Seth Towns, an eighth-year senior, is back in the Big Dance. 

At the current age of 26, Towns is older than a multitude of current NBA players, including Boston Celtics star forward Jayson Tatum, with whom he graduated in the same high school recruiting class. Other notable players from that class include Lonzo Ball, De’Aaron Fox, Bam Adebayo and Malik Monk. 

Towns began his career at Harvard and made his collegiate debut on Nov. 11, 2016. He spent two seasons with the Crimson (2016-18), where he was named Ivy League Player of the Year during his sophomore season. 

Towns missed his final two seasons at Harvard after undergoing two surgeries to repair torn cartilage in his left knee, per ESPN. Nonetheless, Towns was considered the best graduate transfer in the portal after graduating from Harvard in 2020, having been pursued by top-tier programs such as Ohio State, Duke, Kansas, Virginia, Syracuse, Michigan and Maryland. 

Towns ultimately decided on joining the Buckeyes and averaged 3.8 points as Ohio State earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament in 2020-21. Once again, he was forced to miss the 2021-22 season with a back injury before announcing his decision to step away from basketball entirely in Sept. 2022 after playing in just 25 games in five seasons. 

After voluntarily missing the 2022-23 season, Towns expressed interest in playing for Howard, and ultimately committed to the Bison in May 2023. 

Now in his eighth season of college hoops, Towns will have another chance to play in the Big Dance as the Bison anxiously anticipate the reveal of their seeding on Selection Sunday. 

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