DeAndre Townsend knows what you’re thinking.
The nickname doesn’t seem right. Someone must have picked the wrong guy.
Look up and down the Emporia State Hornets’ bench, and you would expect the nickname “Bear” to go to Jordan Fithian or Ed Desir or Caleb Tegtmeier — all guys taller than 6-foot-5 and all guys who would seem more natural with the intimidating moniker.
Thing is, DeAndre Townsend was one of those guys — one that bullied his way in the lane and used his extra pounds to get where he wanted to go.
That was way back in sixth grade.
“I grew kind of fast,” Townsend said. “Now people call me ‘Little Bear,’ sometimes. I get that a lot. They say, ‘Bear? You’re like a cub.’”
It doesn’t bother Townsend anymore. At 5-foot-8, he’s been the short guy for a long time now.
He’s also been the one that’s made a name for himself by the way he’s played — and also the way he’s fought, just as his nickname would suggest.
“His nickname really explains his heart. He has a bear for a heart,” ESU guard Donta Watson said. “To be his size and play as big as he does and as hard as he does, you can’t deny the nickname.”
• • •
Townsend knows you have to do a little imagining to picture how he received his nickname in the first place.
His grandmother gave it to him after noticing a certain trend with her grandson: The boy didn’t ever seem to stop eating. In fact, he ate a whole lot like a bear.
“Growing up, I used to be a little bit chubbier,” Townsend said, pausing to let the image sink in. “I actually love to eat still.”
As a northern boy in Minneapolis, Minn., he was especially fond of his grandmother’s southern cooking — an art she learned from growing up in Mississippi.
When Townsend grew older — and also thinner — the nickname stayed with him. In his hometown, all his family members and friends called him the name. He only remembers a few times when ESU coach David Moe has not called him “Bear.”
“I think the first time that Coach ever called me DeAndre was when I first came down on a visit, maybe, like, to be professional,” Townsend said with a smile. “Once I got here and it was basketball, it’s just been Bear. I can’t even remember the last time anybody called me DeAndre.”
The nickname was used so much that Townsend’s college professors at Rainy River (Minn.) Community College even referred to him as “Bear” in the classroom.
“Once the teachers got to know me and get to learn the history of the name, they came out to watch games and they felt like they can call me Bear too,” Townsend said. “Now, it’s just Bear.”
• • •
Donta Watson still remembers the day he realized his housemate was a little kooky.
After returning home, he opened the door to his room only to find the space was not how he left it.
Now, it was immaculately clean.
“When I come in my room some days, he’ll straighten my shoes up,” Watson said. “That day, he was like, ‘Oh, I was just in here and I saw your shoes were messed up, so I wanted to straighten them up. My bad, I didn’t mean to invade your privacy.’ He’s a very clean guy.”
It’s a trait that Townsend said he’s always had — a desire for things always to be in the correct place. He learned it from his mother.
Watson said the habit often showed itself in the most unexpected of places.
“You go in the bathroom, and your Q-tips are perfectly in order, and you didn’t do it,” Watson said. “He’s definitely a neat freak.”
The two share more than a residence and a team, though. They also share a devotion to the game of basketball.
Off the court, that comes out in the NBA 2K7 — a video game on X-Box and Playstation 3. Both keep tabs on each other’s season and do some good-natured trash-talking as well.
“We’re two type of people that love the game and have a passion for it,” Watson said. “He’s definitely the best teammate I’ve ever had.”
• • •
Townsend will tell you that ESU fans haven’t even seen the best of him yet.
That’s because — and he isn’t joking — Townsend hasn’t dunked a ball yet this season.
“This is new — not getting any dunks,” Townsend said. “I’m kind of like, ‘Man. When am I going to get one?’ Once I get my first one, that’s when it’s going to get rolling.”
Townsend, who had eight dunks last season for Rainy River CC while averaging 23.2 points and 4.6 assists per game, said his jamming skills were constantly being worked on while playing pickup basketball in Minneapolis. Because some of his friends were 6-8 and 6-9 — and would experiment with new dunks daily — it was only natural for him to work on it right along with them.
“Everybody back where I’m from likes to dunk,” Townsend said. “I haven’t quite showed it yet, but during the conference I’m definitely going to pull a lot of tricks out.”
Townsend still has done plenty in his first season with the Hornets.
As a junior, he has averaged 14.9 points and 5.0 assists per game. Perhaps more impressively, he is fifth on the team with 3.7 rebounds per game despite typically being the smallest guy on the court.
His true standout game, though, came Nov. 7 at Allen Fieldhouse. During the first half of ESU’s exhibition against Kansas, Townsend was the best player on the floor, scoring 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the opening 20 minutes.
He was so good that KU coach Bill Self not only called him the “best player in the first half by far,” he also mentioned him after the Jayhawks’ season-opener against Northern Arizona.
“One thing about Northern Arizona, they are better players, but they did not have anybody near as quick as the little guy (DeAndre Townsend) from Emporia State,” Self said. “The guy from Emporia State broke us down just with his pure quickness.”
Townsend has surprised few people since.
“Once you go against him, you know he’s pretty good,” Moe said. “Guys have tried forcing him right, forcing him left, playing him short, pressuring him. He can play.
“I don’t think he’s sneaking up on anybody anymore.”
• • •
The nickname means something more for DeAndre Townsend.
It started as a joke — as a way to describe his funny eating habits.
It’s ended up as his identity — shaping the person that he’s become.
“I get called Bear, and at the same time my attitude is like a bear,” Townsend said. “I can get as mean and as tough as anybody. I come from a rough neighborhood, so you’ve got to be tough.”
That neighborhood — the one in inner-city Minneapolis — was one where killings were common and drugs were rampant.
Not many make it out to go to college, but even fewer are given the chance to. It’s why Townsend’s so thankful he’s here today.
Moe gave him that opportunity. After seeing him play in a summer league — the same one that former Hornets Tony Travis (2004) and Tyrell Sledge (2004-06) played in — the coach was sold on his talent.
But more importantly, he was sold on his character.
“To get the opportunity to come to college... there aren’t many kids back from my neighborhood that get a chance to go to college and have that opportunity,” Townsend said. “So that’s why I really take my hat off to coach Moe — coming into the city and recruiting a guy from the city, and just giving me a chance and opportunity to show my talents and know that all kids ain’t bad kids. And that all kids from the city aren’t worse kids or headaches or head cases or stuff like that.
“I take my hat off to him and my teammates as well. They never turned their back on me.”
Townsend pauses, reaching to his eyes before he becomes more emotional.
“I love them. I love the program.”
Townsend slowly turns his head and smiles.
Turns out he has the heart of a bear as well.