Rutgers Mourns Passing of Bill Foster
Jan 08 | Men's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Rutgers Athletics will hold a moment of silence before Saturday's men's home basketball game against Nebraska at the Rutgers Athletic Center for Bill Foster, who elevated the program to prominence during eight seasons as head coach from 1963-71. Foster died Thursday in Chicago at the age of 86 following a lengthy illness.
Foster, who guided to Scarlet Knights to the school's first 20-win season in 1966-67 and to the semifinals of the NIT that year -- the program's first post-season appearance -- was 120-75 during his eight years at Rutgers.
During that span, he coached All-American guard Bob Lloyd, second on the school's career scoring list, Jim Valvano and Bob Wenzel. Valvano went on to win a national championship as a coach at North Carolina State in 1983 while Wenzel returned to coach at his alma mater, leading the Scarlet Knights to the NCAA Tournament in 1989 and 1991.
"It's a sad time for me. He was my mentor as a player and a coach," said Wenzel, who served as an assistant to Foster at Utah, Duke and South Carolina. "Just being around him you absorbed so much. He had a great way with people and players. He was just a wonderful man and a terrific motivator as a coach."
Wenzel said it was the 1967 NIT appearance, led by Lloyd and Valvano, that got him interested in going to Rutgers. He was a high school senior at the time.
"That was the start of Rutgers raising its basketball profile," said Wenzel, now an analyst for the Big Ten Network.
Lloyd, whose 2,045 points (in three seasons) are second on the school's career list, said Foster was the reason he wound up at Rutgers.
"I was either going to go to Villanova, Ohio State or Cincinnati and then Bill got the Rutgers job," he said. "My brother Dick was a small college All-American at Bloomsburg University (Pa.) playing for Bill. That's the only reason I went to Rutgers because of the relationship with Bill.
"It turned out to be the best thing for me. I completely had the green light, I was very lucky."
Lloyd called Foster "a great motivator in a lot of good ways and just a great man," and said he will never forget the compassion he showed him during a difficult time in his personal life early in his college career.
"My parents were getting divorced my sophomore year during the season. It was obviously greatly affecting me," said Lloyd. "He took me up into the bleachers and we sat down and we talked for quite a while and he was able to help me get through a very tough time."
Foster was elected to the Rutgers Hall of Fame as a result of his success at the school, which also included a 21-4 season and NIT appearance in 1968-69, when the NIT was the sport's premier post-season destination.
Foster's years at Rutgers launched a 30-year career in the Division 1 ranks that saw him coach at Utah (1971-74), Duke (1974-80), South Carolina (1980-86) and Northwestern (1986-93). He finished with an overall record of 467-409, with Duke reaching the 1978 national championship game during his time there.
Foster produced 20-win seasons at Rutgers, Utah, Duke and South Carolina and was the NABC co-Coach of the Year in 1978.
The family plans a private funeral in Chicago. A memorial service will be announced at a later date.
