Former Duke basketball coach Bill Foster dies at 85

Longtime men’s basketball coach Bill Foster passed away on Friday at the age of 85.

Longtime men’s basketball coach Bill Foster passed away on Friday at the age of 85.

A coach at Duke from 1974–85, Foster led the Blue Devils to a 113–64 record after a less-than-stellar first season, including two ACC championships, two Big Four titles and a trip to the 1978 Final Four, where they lost to Kentucky in the championship game.

After leaving in 1980, Foster took over for Frank McGuire at South Carolina and finished his career with Northwestern.

Foster spent the first 11 seasons of his career at Bloomsburg State and Rutgers before taking the Utah job in 1971, replacing Jack Gardner. He went 43–39 in three seasons before moving to Duke.

Most recently, Foster served as associate commissioner and director of basketball operations for the Southwestern Conference, and did consulting for the Western Athletic Conference and Big 12 Conference. He was also a member of the board of trustees of the Basketball Hall of Fame.