NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara University men's basketball program has announced its first recruit in the 2016 National Letter of Intent regular signing period with the addition of James Towns.
 
"We are excited to add James to our program," Niagara head coach Chris Casey said. "He comes from a winning program achieving a state championship his senior year.  He is a backcourt scorer and playmaker which will add to our team's offensive production."        

Towns, a 5-foot-11 guard from Detroit, was a four-year starter at Detroit's Henry Ford High School.  Towns was the "heart and soul" of the team with his head coach calling him "the backbone of the team". He has been described as a tough, lock down defender as well as a dynamic scorer who he can get in the lane, shoot from the perimeter and facilitate the offense.
 
Towns helped lead the Henry Ford Trojans to consecutive state championship games. In the 2015 championship game, he scored 15 points and had a game-high six assists as Henry Ford fell in the title game. As a senior, Towns spearheaded the Trojans to the program's first-ever Class B State Championship. He scored 17 points in the semifinals and followed with 15 points in the championship game win over Stevensville Lakeshore.
 
Towns finished his senior season averaging 24 points, 5.7 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game. Towns was named to the Detroit News All-Area First Team, to the Detroit Free Press First Team and the Detroit Free Press All-Tournament Team.

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