Duke Athletics lost an esteemed member of its family on Thursday, Jan. 7, with the passing of former head men’s basketball coach Bill Foster. He was 86 years old.
Foster was at the helm of the Blue Devils program from 1974-80, leading Duke to a 113-64 record, one regular-season ACC championship, two ACC Tournament titles and three NCAA Tournament berths, including the 1978 national championship game. He coached three All-Americans to a total of six honors and three Academic All-Americans to six total honors, and was named National Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) in 1978.
“We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Coach Bill Foster, who was such a vital part of this program’s rich history,” Duke head men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “His Blue Devil teams from the late 1970s were among the best to ever play at Duke. As accomplished as he was as a basketball coach, anyone who knew Bill would agree he had one of the uniquely exuberant personalities in the sport that he loved so much. His legacy will not only be the significant basketball contributions he made, but the millions of smiles he helped create along the way. We offer our sincerest sympathy to Bill’s family, friends and the many great student-athletes who came to Duke to play for such a terrific coach and person.”
A native of Norwood, Pa., Foster served in the U.S. Air Force before graduating from Elizabethtown College in 1954 with a Bachelor of Science degree. He also earned a Master’s in Business Education from Temple University.
Foster began his coaching career in the high school ranks, heading programs at Chichester High School and Abington High School in Pennsylvania, before accepting the head coaching job at Bloomsburg State College (now Bloomsburg University) in 1960. He compiled a 45-11 record in three seasons at Bloomsburg.
Foster’s Division I coaching career began at Rutgers in 1963, where he led the Scarlet Knights to an overall record of 120-75 in eight seasons. In 1966-67, Foster guided Rutgers to an NIT appearance, the first postseason berth in school history.
Foster came to Duke after three seasons at Utah that saw him lead the Utes to a 43-39 overall record and runner-up honors in the 1974 NIT.
The Blue Devils compiled a 40-40 overall record in Foster’s first three seasons in Durham, but his fourth campaign at Duke proved to be magical.
Behind All-Americans Jim Spanarkel and Mike Gminski, and future All-American Gene Banks, Foster guided Duke to a 27-7 record, its first ACC Tournament championship in a dozen years and a No. 7 ranking in the season’s final Associated Press poll. NCAA Tournament wins over Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Villanova landed Duke in its first Final Four since 1966, where it upset a Notre Dame squad that fielded eight future NBA players in the national semifinals. The Blue Devils finished the 1977-78 season as national runners-up after falling to Kentucky in the national championship game.
Duke’s 1978-79 squad was the nation’s top-ranked team in preseason polls and went on to win the program’s first ACC regular season title in more than a decade before finishing with 22-8 record. Banks, Gminski and Spanarkel all took home All-America honors that season, while Gminski was also named ACC Player of the Year.
Foster’s final season at Duke saw him lead the Blue Devils to a 12-0 start and a four-week run at No. 1 in the polls before injuries took their toll on the team down the stretch. Foster and Duke regrouped to win the 1980 ACC Tournament crown. Duke scored an upset win over Kentucky at Rupp Arena, Foster’s last as the program’s head coach, to reach the 1980 Elite Eight.
Foster accepted the head coaching job at South Carolina in 1980 and would remain in Columbia until 1986. He was the head men’s basketball coach at Northwestern from 1986-1993 before serving as the school’s interim athletic director until January 1994.
After leaving Northwestern, Foster became associate commissioner at the Southwest Conference before spending time as a consultant for both the Western Athletic Conference and Big 12 Conference. He was a longtime member of the board of trustees of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, serving as chairman from 1996-98.
Courtesy: Duke Sports Information
