During the course of Utah basketball history, the Utes have had some prolific big men: Keith Van Horn, Andrew Bogut and Luke Nevill, just to name a few. But none of them did what sophomore center David Foster did Wednesday night against Weber State.
Foster shattered the school record for blocks in a game with 10 in just 22 minutes of play. The old record was seven, set by Nevill last season against Colorado State.
“He’s going to be a good player,” said head coach Jim Boylen. “He’s farther along than I thought he would be. He’s willing, and he’s very coachable, and he’s a winner. I love having him on my team.”
Foster also put himself in a prominent position in the Mountain West Conference record books. He is now fourth all-time in blocks in a game and first among all sophomores.
Foster has earned 27 blocks so far this season for an average of almost four a game, despite sharing time at center with Jason Washburn. He’s on pace to get 115 blocks this season, which would break Nevill’s school record of 92 and would put Foster second all-time among MWC single-season blocks leaders.
“We’re getting better at playing off him,” Boylen said. “We’re getting better at using him, and he’s getting better in our defense. It’s the same defense we used for Luke, and he led the league in blocked shots, and this guy’s probably going to shatter Luke’s record.”
Foster said Weber’s offense gave him a lot of opportunities for blocks.
“That’s part of their offense,” he said. “They love driving the ball, so I just took advantage. I just listened to coach and with preparation, I made sure I was in the right spot to get the blocks.”
Foster said the team’s loss somewhat takes away from his record, but that he gave all he had in the effort.
“I had no regrets from that game,” he said. “I left all I could do on the court.”
Because Washburn’s injury kept him out of the game, Foster played nearly five more minutes than he has been averaging on the year. Eight of Foster’s blocks came in the 12 minutes he played in the second half.
“As the game goes on, I can get my wind better,” Foster said.
Foster says he is still feeling the effects of his mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which he returned from before the season started. He says his conditioning is getting better as the season goes along.
Foster’s previous season-high number of blocks was six, which he accrued in a loss against Seattle.
Offensively, Foster has not shown up as much in the statistics, as he is averaging fewer than five points per game, but Boylen said he makes an impact.
“He creates out of the post,” Boylen said. “He didn’t have any assists tonight, but he created a lot of stuff out of the post.”
Mike MangumSophomore center David Foster gets a block over Southern University?s Earnest Jones. Foster broke the school record 7 blocks in a game with 10 in the Utes? loss at Weber State Wednesday night.