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Truman State University Athletics

Foster_Release13

Chris Foster

In 2017-18, Chris Foster completed his fourth season as the head coach of the Truman State University men's basketball program. With all that he accomplished in the first three years, year No. 4 may have been his most successful. That squad was able to accomplish many things including the following:
  • Fifth-straight 20-win season (had never been done more than two-straight years)
  • 13 conference wins (tied with 2013-14 for most in school history)
  • Three first-team all-conference honorees (first time in 62 years and just third instance in school history)
  • Sixth-straight conference tournament appearance (most in school history)
  • Two seed in GLVC Tournament (highest conference tournament seed in school history)
  • Appearance in GLVC Tournament finals (first time in school history and just third conference tournament finals appearance)
  • Back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances (first time in school history)
  • First-ever wins over Lewis and Indianapolis (0-9 prior to this season)
2016-17, Chris Foster's third season at the helm and fourth as part of the Bulldog family, was just another chapter in the ascension of Truman State University men's basketball since Foster took over prior to the 2014-15 campaign. Foster led the Bulldogs to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 11 years and the recipe for success was no different than it has been in years past. When all was said and done and a DII champ had been crowned, Truman was first in the nation out of 302 teams in three-point field goal percentage at 42.9 percent. Not only was that the best mark in the country, but set a new record for the program and knocked off the old record (41.7 percent), which had stood for 29 years.

That's not the only thing that the 2016-17 squad is among the best in program history to do as it finished the season ranked first in points, first in points per game, first in field goal percentage, first in three-pointers made, first in three-pointers attempted, first in free throw percentage, second in field goals made, fourth in free throws made, fourth in scoring margin, tied for fourth in assists, fifth in field goals attempted, sixth in steals, seventh in blocks, eighth in free throws attempted, 10th in steals per game, and tied for 10th in rebounding defense.

The 2016-17 Bulldogs finished with 22 wins, which are the fourth-most in program history and that marked the fourth-straight 20-win season, three of which belong to Foster. In fact, after 2017-18, Foster owns four of the 10 seasons in school history in which a team has reached the 20-win plateau.

Foster-coached squads continue to score at a prolific rate. In the 20 seasons prior to him taking over the program (1994-2014), the Bulldogs scored 90 points in a game just 35 times. Putting that in perspective, it's now happened 42 times out of 123 games (34 percent) in the four seasons with Foster leading the way.

The 2016-17 team defeated two ranked teams including No. 9 Bellarmine in Pershing Arena on Jan. 13 (77-72) and No. 12 Southern Indiana in the GLVC Tournament quarterfinals on March 2 (69-68). That Knights squad (32-4) won 19 in a row after falling to Truman and made it all the way to the NCAA Division II national semifinals before losing to Fairmont State, 79-68. Meanwhile, the Screaming Eagles finished with a record of 25-5.

In 2015-16, Foster led the Bulldogs to their third-consecutive 20-win campaign as they went 21-9 overall and 12-6 in Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) play. Those 21 overall wins were the most for Truman since 1998-99 (26-7). The season ended in the quarterfinal round of the GLVC tournament with a 77-62 loss to No. 14 Wisconsin-Parkside.
 
In his first year as the program’s head coach, Foster led the Bulldogs to a 20-10 record, which culminated with a trip to the GLVC tournament quarterfinals. He is the 12th coach in program history, having spent one season as the associate head coach under Matt Woodley, who resigned in August 2014 to accept a position in the NBA Developmental League.
 
Prior to Truman, Foster served as the men's basketball video coordinator at the University of Northern Iowa. He rejoined the UNI staff in December 2011 following time as a varsity head coach and instructor at both North County High School and Jefferson High School in the St. Louis area.
  
He was a four-year standout for UNI as an undergraduate, helping lead the Panthers to the 2003 and 2004 NCAA tournament, while also ranking amongst the program's top 10 all time in games played, assists and three-pointers. He scored 1,027 career points and was a member of the 2002 Missouri Valley Conference all-Freshman team before graduating in 2005.
 
Foster then served three different roles in three seasons for the Panther coaching staff, beginning as a graduate manager in 2005. He was then named the program's director of basketball operations in 2006 before moving into a full-time assistant coaching position for the 2007-08 season.
 
Foster and his wife, Kylie, have three children – a son, Jase, and two daughters, Avery and Riley.
 
Year Overall (%) GLVC (%) Finish Postseason
2014-15 20-10 (.667) 11-7 (.611) 7/2W GLVC Tournament
2015-16 21-9 (.700) 12-6 (.667) 5/2W GLVC Tournament
2016-17 22-10 (.688) 12-6 (.667) 6/2W GLVC Tournament
NCAA Tournament
2017-18 20-11 (.645) 13-5 (.722) 2/1W GLVC Tournament
NCAA Tournament
TOTAL 83-40 (.675) 48-24 (.667)
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