# Rod Foster > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rod_Foster > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rod_Foster.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Foster > Source revision: 1345105010 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|American basketball player}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox basketball biography | name = Rod Foster | image = | width = | caption = | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 1 | weight_lb = 160 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1960|10|10}} | birth_place = [Birmingham, Alabama](/source/Birmingham%2C_Alabama), U.S. | high_school = [St. Thomas Aquinas](/source/St._Thomas_Aquinas_High_School_(Connecticut))
([New Britain, Connecticut](/source/New_Britain%2C_Connecticut)) | college = [UCLA](/source/UCLA_Bruins_men's_basketball) (1979–1983) | draft_year = 1983 | draft_round = 2 | draft_pick = 28 | draft_team = [Phoenix Suns](/source/Phoenix_Suns) | career_start = 1983 | career_end = 1986 | career_number = 10 | career_position = [Point guard](/source/Point_guard) | years1 = {{nbay|1983|start}}–{{nbay|1985|end}} | team1 = [Phoenix Suns](/source/Phoenix_Suns) | highlights = * Second-team [All-American](/source/NCAA_Men's_Basketball_All-Americans) – [UPI](/source/United_Press_International) ([1981](/source/1981_NCAA_Men's_Basketball_All-Americans)) * 2× First-team [All-Pac-10](/source/List_of_All-Pac-12_Conference_men's_basketball_teams) (1981, 1983) * Second-team [''Parade'' All-American](/source/Parade_All-America_Boys_Basketball_Team) (1979) }} '''Roderick Allen Foster''' (born October 10, 1960) is an American former professional [basketball](/source/basketball) player (6'1", 160 lb) who played for the [Phoenix Suns](/source/Phoenix_Suns) of the [National Basketball Association](/source/National_Basketball_Association) (NBA). He was drafted out of [UCLA](/source/UCLA_Bruins_men's_basketball) in the second round of the [1983 NBA draft](/source/1983_NBA_draft) (28th pick overall). ==Career== As a senior at [St Thomas Aquinas High School](/source/St._Thomas_Aquinas_High_School_(Connecticut)) in [New Britain, Connecticut](/source/New_Britain%2C_Connecticut), "Rocket" Rod Foster averaged 30.2 points per game, and led his team to the State Championship. He was named an Adidas All-American and second team [Parade All-American](/source/Parade_All-American). A prized recruit, Foster chose to attend [UCLA](/source/UCLA_Bruins_men's_basketball), recruited to the school by coach [Larry Brown](/source/Larry_Brown_(basketball)).{{Cite web|url=https://www.bruinsnation.com/ucla_basketball/2013/4/17/4233256/ucla-basketball-beginnings-and-endings|title=Notable UCLA Basketball Coaches Beginnings & Ends|date=April 17, 2013|website=Bruins Nation}} As a freshman at UCLA, Foster helped lead the Bruins to the [1980 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament](/source/1980_NCAA_Division_I_Basketball_Tournament) Finals in 1980, where they lost to the [Louisville Cardinals](/source/Louisville_Cardinals_men's_basketball), playing under coach Larry Brown. Foster led UCLA with 16 points in the 59–54 loss, adding 6 steals and 5 assists. In the second round of the 1980 NCAA tournament, #8 seed UCLA upset the #1 overall seed [DePaul Blue Demons](/source/DePaul_Blue_Demons_men's_basketball), led by Foster's 18 points in a 77–71 victory. Foster then had 19 points in the next NCAA tournament game, a 72–68 win over the [Ohio State Buckeyes](/source/Ohio_State_Buckeyes_men's_basketball). Overall, as a freshman, Foster averaged 11.5 points, 1.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/1980-03-24-louisville.html|title=UCLA vs. Louisville Box Score, March 24, 1980|website=College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/sports/highschool/varsity-times/la-sp-vi-boys-basketball-former-ucla-guard-rod-foster-wins-first-game-as-windward-coach-20160128-story.html|title=Boys' basketball: Former UCLA guard Rod Foster wins first game as Windward coach|date=January 29, 2016|website=Los Angeles Times}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/1980-03-09-depaul.html|title=UCLA vs. DePaul Box Score, March 9, 1980|website=College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.si.com/college/ohiostate/basketball/theres-nothing-sweet-about-these-ohio-state-losses|title=There's Nothing Sweet About These Ohio State Losses|first=Bruce|last=Hooley|website=Sports Illustrated|date=27 March 2020 }} In December 1981, the NCAA put the UCLA basketball program on a two–year probation for violations.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1981/12/09/ucla-2-year-probation-80-finish-void/26f7999f-ceaf-4668-a0aa-8398deff7d3e/ |title=UCLA: 2-Year Probation, '80 Finish Void |date=1981-12-09 |newspaper=[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post) |place=Washington, D.C. |issn=0190-8286 |oclc=1330888409}} Graduating from UCLA, Foster averaged 12.1 points and 2.1 assists per game, shooting 52.0% from the floor and 88.0% from the line in his 113-game UCLA career.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/rod-foster-1.html|title=Rod Foster College Stats|website=College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com}} Foster is listed as one of the best free throw shooters in NCAA history, making 95 of 100 free throw attempts or 95.0% completion in his 1982 season.{{Cite web|url=https://wwwcache.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2020-10-22/best-free-throw-shooters-mens-college-basketball-history|title=The best free-throw shooters in men's college basketball history | NCAA.com|website=wwwcache.ncaa.com}} In 2025 Foster was inducted to the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame.[6] Drafted in the 2nd round (28th overall pick) of the [1983 NBA draft](/source/1983_NBA_draft), Foster's playing career was ended prematurely due to injury. In his NBA career, Foster averaged 7.2 points and 2.3 assists in 207 career games with the Phoenix Suns.{{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/f/fostero01.html|title=Rod Foster NBA Stats|website=[Basketball Reference](/source/Basketball_Reference)|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|accessdate=27 January 2026}} In March, 1986, Foster suffered a compound fracture in his left leg in a jeep accident in the Arizona desert which ended his playing career. Foster was driving, with [Phoenix Suns](/source/Phoenix_Suns) teammates [Mike Sanders](/source/Mike_Sanders_(basketball)) and [Ed Pinckney](/source/Ed_Pinckney) as passengers, when the jeep tipped and crushed Foster's leg, causing severe career ending injuries.{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-03-25-sp-173-story.html|title=Rod Foster's Ordeal in the Arizona Desert : Jeep Accident Leaves Him With Broken Leg and Endangers His Career|date=March 25, 1986|website=Los Angeles Times}} ==Personal== As of 2016, Foster was the head of the L.A. Rockets youth basketball program in Los Angeles. Early in 2016, he also briefly coached the boys varsity high school basketball team at the [Windward School](/source/Windward_School) in Los Angeles.{{cite news|last1=Sondheimer|first1=Eric|title=Boys' basketball: Rod Foster won't be returning as Windward coach|url=http://www.latimes.com/sports/highschool/varsity-times/la-sp-vi-boys-basketball-rod-foster-won-t-be-returning-as-windward-coach-20160302-story.html|accessdate=23 October 2016|work=Los Angeles Times|date=March 2, 2016}} In 2020, Foster was named to the CIAC Boys Basketball All–Century team. [John Bagley](/source/John_Bagley_(basketball)), [Kris Dunn](/source/Kris_Dunn), [Johnny Egan](/source/Johnny_Egan_(basketball)), [Mike Gminski](/source/Mike_Gminski), [Calvin Murphy](/source/Calvin_Murphy) ( Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame), [Harold Pressley](/source/Harold_Pressley) and [John Williamson](/source/John_Williamson_(basketball%2C_born_1951)) were among the other 24 recipients.{{Cite web|url=http://ciacsports.com/site/?p=14127|title=CIAC Boys Basketball All Century Team | CIAC}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.theday.com/article/20200328/sport03/200329459|title=CIAC All-Century Teams for high school basketball feature five locals|access-date=December 2, 2021|archive-date=December 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202030903/https://www.theday.com/article/20200328/sport03/200329459|url-status=dead}} ==Career statistics== {{NBA player statistics legend}} ===NBA=== Source ====Regular season==== {{NBA player statistics start}} |- | style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1983}} | style="text-align:left;"|[Phoenix](/source/1983%E2%80%9384_Phoenix_Suns_season) | '''80''' || '''34''' || '''17.8''' || .448 || .262 || '''.787''' || '''1.5''' || 2.2 || .7 || '''.1''' || 8.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1984}} | style="text-align:left;"|[Phoenix](/source/1984%E2%80%9385_Phoenix_Suns_season) | 79 || 1 || 16.7 || '''.450''' || '''.325''' || .755 || 1.0 || 2.4 || '''.8''' || .0 || '''8.8''' |- | style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1985}} | style="text-align:left;"|[Phoenix](/source/1985%E2%80%9386_Phoenix_Suns_season) | 48 || 0 || 14.7 || .390 || .281 || .719 || 1.2 || '''2.5''' || .5 || .0 || 4.2 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career | 207 || 35 || 16.6 || .440 || .298 || .768 || 1.2 || 2.3 || .7 || .0 || 7.5 {{s-end}} ====Playoffs==== {{NBA player statistics start}} |- | style="text-align:left;"|[1984](/source/1984_NBA_Playoffs) | style="text-align:left;"|[Phoenix](/source/1983%E2%80%9384_Phoenix_Suns_season) | '''16''' || || 8.0 || .256 || .000 || '''1.000''' || .8 || 1.1 || .3 || '''.1''' || 1.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"|[1985](/source/1985_NBA_Playoffs) | style="text-align:left;"|[Phoenix](/source/1984%E2%80%9385_Phoenix_Suns_season) | 3 || 0 || '''18.7''' || '''.280''' || .000 || .750 || '''1.0''' || '''2.3''' || '''1.7''' || .0 || '''6.7''' |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career | 19 || 0 || 9.7 || .260 || .000 || .882 || .8 || 1.3 || .5 || .1 || 2.6 {{s-end}} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *[https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/f/fostero01.html NBA statistics] {{1983 NBA draft}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Rod}} Category:1960 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen Category:20th-century American sportsmen Category:All-American college men's basketball players Category:American men's basketball players Category:Basketball players from Birmingham, Alabama Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Category:Phoenix Suns draft picks Category:Phoenix Suns players Category:Point guards Category:Quad City Thunder players Category:Rapid City Thrillers players Category:San Jose Jammers players Category:Savannah Spirits players Category:UCLA Bruins men's basketball players --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rod Foster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Foster) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Foster?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.