Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 9, 1991 TAG: 9104090470
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
"I like the way the dressing room smells," said Virginia Tech's new basketball coach, who ended his one-year retirement by agreeing to a four-year contract with hopes of lifting the Hokies from the mire of three straight losing seasons.
Foster, 55, built programs at UNC Charlotte and Miami, in between which he spent nine years at Clemson and became the school's top winning coach. He said he quit at Miami because he needed a "change of scenery" - the same reason he said he left Clemson - and spent last year as a color commentator on basketball telecasts for Raycom Sports.
The day former Hokies coach Frankie Allen was reassigned within Tech's athletic department, Tech athletic director Dave Braine met with Foster in Charlotte, N.C. Less than a month later and, after a serious flirtation with Kansas assistant Jerry Green, Braine introduced Foster on Monday as Tech's 24th head coach in 84 years of basketball.
Braine, asked why he hired a 24-year coaching veteran instead of picking from the crop of young, highly regarded coaches, said Foster's record hypnotized him.
"That's something you don't have to wait for; it's already there," he said of Foster's background. "You go with what the market bears. He was on the market."
And Foster, whose base salary at Tech will be $95,000, made it plain to Braine that he wanted the job. Foster said he was offered the job Saturday, several hours after Green - who said he was "leaning toward taking the job" at one time - called Braine and withdrew from consideration. Braine would not say what would have happened if Green had said he wanted the job, but he did say there was one big difference between Green and Foster.
"There wasn't the intensity [in Green]," Braine said. "[Foster] didn't need a job. He wanted to coach again."
Foster, 431-247 in his career, has gone a combined 63-40 in his first year at four different jobs.
"I've never been anywhere yet the first year where we didn't win," Foster said. "I'd be disappointed if we don't have a winning season [in 1991-92]. [We need to] get an identity for VPI basketball. Duke has an identity; [North] Carolina has an identity; [Bobby] Cremins has an identity now with the [Georgia] Tech program. I want to establish a program here."
Foster promised:
Not to gripe about Tech's academic standards for freshmen and junior-college transfers. Miami's guidelines, he said, were similar to Tech's.
"I can't just go out and plug a hole with a JC guy; I understand that," he said.
To widen Tech's recruiting range, despite possible shortcomings in the recruiting budget.
"We'll go about anywhere," he said. "I can learn to speak a little German, or Spanish. It's an international game now, and I think you're sticking your head in the sand if you don't look anywhere for basketball players. . . . I'm a pretty good money manager. I think we've got enough in the budget to get where we need to."
To recruit 3-point shooters, play an up-tempo offense and pressure defense; the latter two were characteristics of Allen's teams.
"The 3-point shot's here to stay; if you don't recruit 3-point shooters, you're not going to go far," he said. "You've got to play an extended defense, and play it well."
He wasn't burned out when he left Clemson, nor when he left Miami, and said he is not returning to coaching just for something to do.
"I think I've got a ton of energy," Foster said. "I feel as pumped up now as the first day I coached."
To embark on a barnstorming tour of Hokie Clubs to spark interest in the basketball program. Interest sagged noticeably last year and was one factor that led to Allen's removal as coach.
"I've got to go out and create some excitement first, then go out and give them a product they can identify with," Foster said.
Braine said Foster and Green were the only two prospects to visit Tech, although last week Foster denied reports that accurately said he had visited Tech and interviewed for the job the previous week.
Foster said he doesn't know whether he will sign any players for next year in what remains of the recruiting season. Signing period begins Wednesday, and Foster said he will use Allen's assistants, Tic Price and Jim Baker, to help him scout recruits. He said he will seriously consider keeping Price and Baker, whose contracts expire in June, on his staff.
Foster praised the realigned Metro Conference, and said Tech's future basketball schedules may feature what he called a "national look."
Foster will be 59 when his current deal is scheduled to expire, prompting the question of how much longer he plans to coach. Monday, he wasn't in a deadline-setting mood, nor did he promise Tech eternity.
"At the end of four years, there are a lot of things you can't foresee," he said. "Are you burned out or not burned out? I'm focused in on a four-year commitment. Past four years, I don't know what's out there. [But] I'm not looking to go somewhere else; I'm not using this as a steppingstone."
Braine said after two years, Tech might renegotiate with Foster depending on the Hokies' success and Foster's desire. Right now, Foster has little doubt about either.
"I want to win; I wouldn't have come here if I didn't think we could win," he said, then acknowledged his financial status. "I don't have to coach. I'm coaching because I want to coach. I really have to, because I'm not happy without doing it."
BILL FOSTER FILE/ BACKGROUND AND PERSONAL DATA/ Coaching experience: Head coach, University of Miami, 1985-1990; head coach, Clemson, 1975-1984; head coach and athletic director, UNC Charlotte, 1970-1975; assistant coach, The Citadel, 1967-1969; head coach and athletic director, Shorter College, Rome, Ga., 1962-1967; head coach, Marion High School, Marion, S.C., 1958-1961; freshman coach, Carson-Newman College, Jefferson City, Tenn., 1957-1958.
Educational background: M.S. physical education and administration, University of Tennessee, 1961; B.S. physical education, Carson-Newman College, Jefferson City, Tenn., 1958.
Family: Foster and his wife, the former Linda Maxwell of Asheville, N.C., have two daughters, Leslie Kay Nelsen and Laura Lynn Kenkel.
by CNB