Up Close & Personal: Davon Townley

Minneapolis native Davon Townley was one of Penn State’s most important additions in the Class of 2021.

On paper, there’s a lot for fans to be excited about, including a four-star rating and a 6-foot-6, 250-pound frame that’s just now being shaped for a future at this level of competition. Add in the fact that he was the last player to decide and pretty much the only reason for fans to get excited on National Signing Day and it’s understandable why he’s oftentimes one of the most asked about prospects.

But what made Townley such an important addition to James Franklin and his staff is the fact that he was one of just a few defensive ends that they truly coveted in the previous class. Last year’s crop of edge rushers wasn’t just down in the Mid-Atlantic region, but across the nation as a whole, making it all the more important that the Lions got their man come signing day.

“First off, they were very open with me. They let me know what they were looking for and how I fit into that,” Townley said. “They were very consistent with me, calling and texting and just staying in contact and showing me that I’m an important piece and that they want me. I’m very grateful for that.”

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Townley signing to play football was something he never even dreamt about, as basketball was always the sport he focused on. To put it into perspective, he didn’t even release film of his first football season until the spring of 2020, after he and his basketball teammates had wrapped up the school’s seventh consecutive Minneapolis City Conference championship. By that time, he had already held Division I basketball offers from schools like Morgan State and Hampton, with plenty of other programs showing interest. But once he put out those football highlights, everything changed, as Townley earned about a dozen scholarship offers in a span of 10 weeks.

“I’m a big believer in our kids playing multiple sports,” said Minneapolis North head football coach Charles Adams. “He was already a great basketball player and was close with a bunch of players on our [football] team, so why not come out and play another sport with his boys? At the time, it was all about coming out and having fun. We knew he had potential with his size, but I don’t know if we saw this sport being the one he’d end up doing [in college].”

If Townley would’ve known how quickly he’d emerge as a top football prospect, those film clips would’ve been released months earlier. He, and the rest of the world, also didn’t know that a pandemic was about to shut everything down, including recruiting trips. Most of Penn State’s top prospects were able to at least visit in 2019. Townley never saw any of his top schools. In fact, he still hasn’t actually been to University Park.

“I can only imagine how stressful that was for him and his family," Adams said. "I helped out as much as I could, but when you can’t take visits, that’s tough. I think it was definitely overwhelming at times for him. I just told him to be honest about how you feel and that you need to take your time and that’s what he ended up doing.”

Townley ultimately ended up not committing anywhere during the early signing period, electing to instead wait until Feb. 3. There were rumors that he was considering a commitment to Arizona State leading up to the early period, but in the end, he said he chose the Nittany Lions over Michigan State, Nebraska and Washington.

“I had really good communication with Coach Franklin and his staff,” Adams said. “I know that was the case for Davon and his family, too. I think that was really important when it came down to the end. Personally, I’ll never push my kids to go one place or another, but Penn State’s staff really did stand out when it came to the little things. I felt like we really knew what their plan was for Davon because they were open and honest every step of the way. You never questioned where they stood. I thought that was pretty cool.”

With not just his recruitment, but also basketball now behind him, Townley’s focus can now shift to Penn State. He’s been provided a workout plan from the strength staff until he gets on campus this summer, but even if he does everything right, it’ll likely take Townley some time to get up to speed in just his third season on the gridiron. At the same time, it’s that raw potential that excites John Scott Jr. and the rest of Penn State’s defensive staff. Townley has that in spades.

“Well, he’s only going to get bigger and stronger. He can still really take off in that department,” Adams said. “He’s played basketball his whole life, so that’s one area where he still has so much potential to grow. He’s only played football for two years, so he still has to learn some concepts, and once he does, I only see him taking off. He really performed off of just two years of football. That’s not something you always see, so get him in that weight room, get him in that full program environment and man, I think he has potential to be a pro. He already has the size and the athleticism. Now, he’s joining the right program in a conference like the Big Ten, so I think he definitely has the potential to be a professional football player one day.”

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