Matt Townsend, ATC
Athletic Trainer
1 Podcast on BackTable
Matt Townsend is the Men’s Basketball Athletic Trainer at the University of Arkansas.
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Episode # 118 • 13 Oct 2026
Navigating Basketball Medicine: An Athletic Trainer’s Perspective
When a college basketball player asks when he can go back in the game, the person making the call is rarely wearing a white coat. On this episode of BackTable Bone & Sports, Dr. Larry Balle welcomes Matt Townsend, ATC, head athletic trainer for Arkansas men’s basketball, for an inside look at basketball medicine from the training room. They walk through the basketball calendar, common injuries, and the return-to-play decisions that happen in real time, including movement screening, tendinopathy rehab, vitamin D supplementation, and the impact of name image and likeness (NIL) on athlete advocacy.
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