There is only 1 Geno when it comes to the best college basketball coaches ever but there are many named Jim: Boeheim, Calhoun, Phelan, etc. 1 Jim you should get to know if you do not already is Foster. Coach Jim Foster has won more than 850 games while running the show at 4 different schools (St. Joe’s/Vanderbilt/Ohio State/Chattanooga), and in 2014 he became the 1st coach in NCAA women’s history to take 4 different teams to the NCAA tourney. He has won more than a dozen conference titles, is a 2-time national COY, and has lost a whopping 2 conference games in Chattanooga since taking over in 2013. CHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Foster about 2 of his famous assistant coaches (1 of whom was named Geno) and what it meant to him to make the Hall of Fame.
You served multiple tours of duty in Vietnam with the Army in the 1960s: what impact did the war have on you either on or off the court? It made me older than my years: I saw and experienced a lot of things that you just cannot get during a college education.
In the 1985 NCAA tourney as head coach at St. Joe’s, Teresa Carmichael set a record by making all 11 of her FG attempts in a 4-PT loss to NC State: was it just 1 of those situations where every shot she put up seemed to go in because she was “in the zone”? She was a good player and our other post player had a great game as well.
2 of your assistants at St. Joe’s were Geno Auriemma and Muffet McGraw: could you have ever imagined that each of them would go on to win national titles as head coaches? I do not think that I imagined it but I am not surprised by it. I thought they both were very talented and winning a title is a crapshoot anyway. Geno is as good a coach as we have ever produced.
In the 1992 Olympic semifinals as an assistant coach for team USA you had a 6-PT loss to the eventual-champion Unified Team before beating Cuba for the bronze medal: how did a team with superstars such as Cynthia Cooper/Teresa Edwards/Teresa Weatherspoon end up with what remains the only loss by a US Olympic women’s basketball team since 1976? It just reaffirmed that you have to be very consistent to win the Olympics. We were a guard-strong team and could have used some more size: in hindsight a very young player named Lisa Leslie could have put us over the top.
In the 1995 NCAA tourney as head coach of #1-seed Vanderbilt, Jannon Roland made a 3-PT shot from the right corner at the buzzer in a 1-PT upset by Purdue: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? It is obviously disappointing anytime someone makes a shot at the buzzer to beat you. She did not hesitate and made a shot over our player who had her hand up. It was a long ride home.
In the 2000 NCAA tourney Chantelle Anderson scored 25 PTS in a 2-PT 2-OT win over Kansas: where does that rank among the most exciting wins of your career? Defensively Chavonne Hammond did a terrific job on the Jayhawks’ great guard Suzi Raymant, which kept us in the game. Anytime you win on the road in the tourney it is a great win.
Catrina Frierson scored 18 PTS (including a pair of FTs with 2.5 seconds left) in a 1-PT loss to Louisiana Tech: did you think that the freshman was going to make them both? I was not sure that she should have been shooting those shots but to her credit she made them.
You were a 4-time Big 10 COY as head coach at Ohio State and a 2-time national COY: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors? It just goes with the territory when you have a good team. I am not convinced that I did not do a better job when the talent was not so good and the schedule was brutal: I never put too much credence in that stuff. In the end I just have to satisfy myself by evaluating the season for what it was and how we grew or did not grow.
In 2013 you were inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame: where does that rank among the highlights of your career? I have a hard time putting my finger on it. Obviously the committee felt comfortable bestowing that honor on me but I had a lot of good players and assistants. At the end of the day I had a pretty good run but I will assess my career after I finish my run.
That same year you were named head coach at Chattanooga, where you went 32-0 in your 1st 2 years of SoCon play: how long do you plan on sticking around for, and did you think that you were ever going to lose a conference game?! I do not know the answer to either 1 but I enjoy being with young people on a daily basis because they bring a lot of energy: it keeps me young. I enjoy being in the gym with the players and their parents understand what we are trying to do, which is a great combination.
You are the 1st coach in NCAA women’s history to take 4 different teams to the NCAA tourney and you have more than 850 wins in your career: how have you been able to be so successful at so many different programs? I surround myself with quality people at every stop. It is easy to identify people like Geno and Muffet, but I have a terrific young staff here at Chattanooga and I think that they will be very successful. A lot of my assistants have gone on to become good head coaches themselves.