Fred J. Foster (March 18, 1946 – October 4, 1985) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player.

Early life

Foster grew up in

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County, Ohio, Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, approxim ...

, and attended Springfield South High School.

College career

Foster played as a 6'5"

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

. After averaging only 3.4 points per game as a sophomore, as a junior he exploded for 21.3 points and 10.1 rebounds per game and was named first-team All-

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

.Basketball News
In his senior season of 1967–68, he earned the first-ever

Player of the Year award and set a school record that still stands—the all-time single-season points-per-game average with 26.9 in 1967–68, ahead of the 24.9 of basketball hall-of-famer

Wayne Embry Wayne Richard Embry (born March 26, 1937) is a retired American basketball player and basketball executive. Embry's 11-year playing career as a center spanned from 1958 to 1969 playing for the Cincinnati Royals, Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Buck ...

and

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

world champion

Ron Harper Ronald Harper (born January 20, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player. He played for four teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA) between 1986 and 2001 and is a five-time NBA champion. Early life Harper was born ...

. His single-game high was 43 points against

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers, Indiana, Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, indust ...

on December 2, 1967. Foster also averaged 12.5 rebounds per game that year, sixth in Miami history. Foster ranks third in Miami history in career points per game at 18.8 and seventh in career rebounds per game at 8.9 from 1966 to 1968. He had a career field goal percentage of .484.

NBA career

He was drafted in the third round of the 1968 NBA draft by the

Cincinnati Royals The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

and was also selected in the 1968

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

draft by the

Kentucky Colonels The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of ...

. In his rookie season with the Royals, Foster made his debut on October 19, 1968, as the Royals' last man in a win over the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

. For the season, he averaged 3.4 points per game. Foster came on strong in his second season, 1969–70, when he averaged 14.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, both career highs. He also had career highs in minutes per game (28.1) and field goal percentage (.449). He twice had a single-game career best of 32 points—on January 7, 1970, against the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

when he made 13 field goals and was 6-for-6 at the free throw line, and again on February 15 against the

San Diego Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was established in 1967, and pl ...

. In 1970–71, after playing one game with the Royals, he was traded along with

Connie Dierking Conrad William Dierking (October 2, 1936 – December 29, 2013) was an American professional basketball player from 1958 to 1971. Early life Connie Dierking was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up on Long Island, where he starred in basketbal ...

to the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

for

Darrall Imhoff Darrall Tucker Imhoff (October 11, 1938 – June 30, 2017) was an American professional basketball player. He spent 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), playing for six teams from 1960 to 1972. He made an NBA All-Star team, an ...

and a future draft pick. For the season, Foster averaged 5.5 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. In 1971–72, he was a steady contributor, averaging 23 minutes per game and 11.9 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. He had a season-high 30 points on February 10, 1972, against the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

. Prior to the 1972–73 season, on July 31, 1972, Foster was traded to the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

for a future draft pick, then on the same day Portland traded him to the

for

Terry Dischinger Terry Gilbert Dischinger (born November 21, 1940) is an American former basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Dischinger was a three-time NBA All-Star and the 1963 NBA Rookie of the Year, after averaging 28 points per gam ...

. In 23.2 minutes per game, he averaged 8.7 points per game. On October 8, 1973, he was waived by the Pistons and three weeks later signed as a free agent with the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

for the 1973–74 season, averaging 4.8 points per game. In 1974–75, he upped his average to 6.9 points per game. He did not play in the 1975–76 season, and in 1976–77 he returned to the NBA, signing as a free agent with the

Buffalo Braves The Buffalo Braves were an American professional basketball franchise based in Buffalo, New York. The Braves competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division from 1970 ...

, for whom he averaged 3.9 points per game in his eights and final NBA season.

Personal life

Foster died in 1985 at age 39 in his hometown of Springfield, Ohio. In 1998, he was posthumously inducted into the Miami Athletics Hall of Fame. In 2017, he was enshrined into th
Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame
His sister accepted his posthumous award on behalf of their family.

References

Book,"Cincinnati's Basketball Royalty" by Gerry Schultz {{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Fred 1946 births 1985 deaths American men's basketball players Basketball players from Ohio Buffalo Braves players Cincinnati Royals draft picks Cincinnati Royals players Cleveland Cavaliers players Detroit Pistons players Kentucky Colonels draft picks Miami RedHawks men's basketball players Philadelphia 76ers players Small forwards Sportspeople from Springfield, Ohio