William Carey Foster (April 1, 1936 – May 27, 2015) was an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach who won over 500 games during a career that spanned 30 years. Foster, a native of

Palatka, Florida Palatka () is a city in and the county seat of Putnam County, Florida, Putnam County, Florida, United States. Palatka is the principal city of the Palatka Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is home to 72,893 residents. The Palatka micropolitan ...

, compiled an overall record of 532–325 in 30 seasons. He succeeded

Tates Locke Taylor "Tates" Locke (February 25, 1937 – May 15, 2024) was an American basketball coach. He was described by Rick Telander in the March 8, 1982, issue of ''Sports Illustrated'' as being "as high-strung, aggressive and gung-ho over college co ...

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

on April 9, 1975. Foster died of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

on May 27, 2015. He was one of two men's basketball head coaches named Bill Foster in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

from 1975 to 1980. The other was at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

. Neither were related to each other.

Nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

s were used to differentiate the two, with the Tigers coach referred to as Clem Foster and the other as Duke Foster.Moran, Malcolm. "Fosters Spell Success on College Courts," ''The New York Times'', Tuesday, December 15, 1981.
Retrieved March 15, 2023.

Head coaching record

College

References

1936 births 2015 deaths American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from South Carolina Basketball players from South Carolina Charlotte 49ers men's basketball coaches Clemson Tigers men's basketball coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Neurological disease deaths in North Carolina Deaths from Parkinson's disease in the United States High school basketball coaches in South Carolina Miami Hurricanes men's basketball coaches People from Palatka, Florida Sportspeople from Putnam County, Florida People from Hemingway, South Carolina Shorter Hawks men's basketball coaches The Citadel Bulldogs basketball coaches Virginia Tech Hokies men's basketball coaches Wingate Bulldogs men's basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen Long stubs with short prose {{1930s-US-basketball-bio-stub