Mike Towns Joins Spartan Hockey Staff

East Lansing, Mich. -- Mike Towns has been added to the Michigan State hockey staff as an assistant coach, as announced by head coach Adam Nightingale on Wednesday. Towns joins Jared DeMichiel as part of Nightingale's first staff in East Lansing.

Towns will join the Spartan program after three years as an assistant coach at Clarkson University, where he helped guide his charges to three top-three finishes in the ECAC and an overall record of 55-25-13 in those seasons (.672). He also was a part of an American International (AIC) staff that jump-started the program's recent run of four straight regular-season and three consecutive tournament titles.

"Mike is another great addition to our staff who has recruited and developed talented players and quality student-athletes that have turned around the fortunes of two college hockey programs," explained Nightingale. "His work at AIC as the recruiting coordinator was a big part of helping that program be a consistent winner along with helping maintain Clarkson's success as a top-20 program. His ability to connect with players and help them develop into the best version of themselves will be a huge asset to our program. We look forward to welcoming Mike and his family to Spartan hockey."

"I could not be more excited for the opportunity to join the Michigan State hockey program," noted Towns. "I am grateful that Coach Nightingale has afforded me this opportunity and for the ability to work at such an incredible institution. The Spartan hockey program has an elite history and tradition of championship hockey and producing NHL players. Coach Nightingale has coached at the highest levels of hockey, and I am eager to work with him and learn from his experiences. My wife Dianna and I have many roots in the state of Michigan and we are excited to get back."

In 2021, he helped guide the Golden Knights to a 21-10-6 overall record, a third-place finish in the ECAC (14-4-4) and a spot in the ECAC Semifinals at season's end. Clarkson was just outside the NCAA Tournament field, finishing with an NCAA Pairwise ranking of 16. The Covid-impacted 2020-21 season yielded an 11-7-4 overall record, as only four schools in the ECAC had teams competing, and each played an abbreviated schedule.

In his first season with the Knights (2019-20), Clarkson skated to a 23-8-3 overall record and a second-place 16-5-1 ECAC Hockey mark. The Knights were rated ninth in the final PWR before the COVID-19 pandemic forced an abrupt end to the college hockey season in early March.

Towns came to Clarkson after serving five years on the staff at American International College, including the 2018-19 campaign as the Yellow Jackets associate head coach. From his arrival at AIC in August 2014, Towns helped recruit and lay the groundwork for the most successful Yellow Jacket seasons in the program's history.
Elevated to AIC's recruiting coordinator with the hiring of Head Coach Eric Lang in 2016-17, Towns was instrumental in recruiting efforts that helped build the Yellow Jackets program under Lang, attracting quality players to Springfield which has resulted in four consecutive Atlantic Hockey regular-season championships (2019-22). Towns helped recruit head coach Eric Lang's first recruiting class for the 2016-2017 season, which was regarded as one of the best in the conference. The 2017-2018 season saw more impressive recruiting efforts. The team set program records for wins in a season (15) and was able to host and win its first Atlantic Hockey Championship Tournament series. The Yellow Jackets continued improving and enjoyed unprecedented success in 2018-2019, once again setting a program record for victories (23), and winning both the Atlantic Hockey regular season and playoff championships. AIC excelled at the NCAA tournament as well, upsetting No. 1 St. Cloud State to advance to the West Regional Championship.

A native of Surrey, British Columbia, Towns spent four seasons in the BCHL playing with the Penticton Vees before attending Adrian College. At Adrian (2007-11), Towns was an alternate captain his first two seasons, and the team's captain in his junior and senior years. During his senior season, Towns captained the Bulldogs to the NCAA Division III Frozen Four, eventually losing in the National Championship Game.

Towns graduated from Adrian with a degree in business administration in management, and completed his Master's of Business Administration at AIC in May 2016. Following his successful collegiate career, Towns embarked on a three-year professional career, making stops with the Denver Cutthroats of the CHL, the Idaho Steelheads and Ontario Reign in the ECHL.

Towns and his wife Dianna have a daughter, Avery.

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