STATISTICS & HISTORY
Johnny Townsend attended Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he was twice named to the All-State basketball team. He played collegiately for the University of Michigan where he was named to the All-Big Ten team and led Michigan in scoring each year from 1936-1938. Townsend was nicknamed the “Houdini of the Hardwood” because he was a talented scorer, strong rebounder and unusually adept ball-handler for a big man. In 1938, his senior year, he was named a consensus All-American. Townsend’s professional basketball career was limited because of his law practice and his service in World War II. His grandson, Eric Montross, played in the National Basketball Association.
| JOHNNY TOWNSEND | Height: | 6:05 | Weight: | 210 | College: | Franklin(In)’35/Michigan’38 | |||||
| John Frederick Townsend | Born: Sep 20, 1916 | Died: Dec 4, 2001 | Hometown: | Indianapolis, Ind. | |||||||
| Grandfather of NBA player Eric Montross | REGULAR SEASON RECORD | ||||||||||
| Year | Team | League | GA | FGM | FTM | FTA | PCT. | AST | PTS | AVG | |
| 1934-35 | Franklin | College | |||||||||
| 1935-36 | Michigan | College | |||||||||
| 1936-37 | Michigan | College | |||||||||
| 1937-38 | Michigan | College | |||||||||
| 1938-39 | Hammond | NBL | 5 | 14 | 15 | 43 | 8.6 | ||||
| 1939-40 | Rochester Seagrams | Indep | |||||||||
| 1940-41 | Michigan All-Stars | Indep | |||||||||
| 1940-41 | Toledo White Huts | Indep | |||||||||
| 1941-42 | Indianapolis | NBL | 22 | 53 | 63 | 169 | 7.7 | ||||
| 1942-43 | Toledo–Oshkosh | NBL | 7 | 10 | 14 | 34 | 4.9 | ||||
| 1942-43 | Rochester Eber Seagrams | Indep | |||||||||
| 1943-45 | U.S. Army | Military Service | |||||||||
| Major League Totals | 34 | 77 | 92 | 246 | 7.2 | ||||||
| PLAYOFF RECORD | |||||||||||
| Year | Team | League | GA | FGM | FTM | FTA | PCT. | AST | PTS | AVG | |
| 1940-41 | Toledo | WBT | 4 | 0 | 3 | 6 | .500 | 3 | 0.8 | ||
| 1941-42 | Indianapolis | NBL | 2 | 6 | 11 | 23 | 11.5 | ||||
| 1941-42 | Indianapolis | WBT | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | .500 | 7 | 7.0 | ||
| Major League Totals | 7 | 8 | 17 | 33 | 4.7 | ||||||