Chris Foster begins his sixth season at the helm of the Drury men’s program and his 13th year overall as a collegiate head coach in 2026-27. Foster’s rebuilding efforts at Drury have taken root over the past three seasons, as the Panthers posted their third consecutive winning season in 2025-26.
DU’s growth over the past three winters has been evident on the court, as five different Panthers have earned All-Great Lakes Valley Conference honors, including 2025-26 GLVC All-Freshman Team honoree KeShaun Thomas. Additionally, both Zach Howell and Colin Hardrick earned their second all-conference nods after helping the Panthers to a GLVC Tournament runner-up finish as part of a 17-14 campaign.
The Panthers’ 17-win season last year followed a 14-win year in 2024-25 and a breakthrough 2023-24 campaign that saw Drury post a 15-13 record, marking a six-game improvement from the previous year. The Panthers featured All-Great Lakes Valley Conference selection Logan Applegate, while Brock Wakefield was named to the All-Defensive team, and Juok Riak was selected for the All-Freshman squad.
Foster was named Drury’s head coach on March 23, 2021, and arrived from McKendree, where he led the fellow GLVC program for three years. In 2020-21, he guided the Bearcats to their best finish ever in the GLVC as McKendree went 10-8 in the conference and ended the year in fourth place overall. The previous season, Foster put together the program’s first-ever above .500 season at the NCAA-II level as the Bearcats went 15-13 and 10-10 in the conference.
Before his stint at McKendree, he was the head coach at Truman State, also a GLVC member, where he not only turned the Bulldogs around, but also laid the foundation for a program that has been one the best in Division II, as Truman advanced to the Elite Eight and was ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation in 2021.
Foster spent four seasons as Truman State’s head coach putting together a record of 83-40. His team reached the NCAA-II tournament in 2017 and 2018, and their 2017 trip was their first national tourney berth in 11 years. While at Truman State, Foster recruited and signed four-time All-GLVC selection Brodric Thomas, who reached the NBA with the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Houston Rockets.
Foster is the 20th head coach in Drury’s 119-year history as a men’s basketball program, and he is only the eighth man to fill the role since 1965.
Prior to becoming head coach at Truman State, Foster was the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator for the Bulldogs.
Originally from Ironton, Mo., Foster played college basketball for Northern Iowa, was an All-Freshman selection in the Missouri Valley Conference, and scored more than 1,000 points in his collegiate career. He was a part of NCAA tournament teams in 2004 and 2005, and currently ranks 44th on UNI’s all-time scoring list.
Foster stayed at UNI to serve as a graduate assistant, then transitioned to director of basketball operations for the Panthers. After coaching at the high school level, he returned to his alma mater to rejoin the coaching staff as video coordinator in 2011.
Foster is 182-155 in 12 seasons as a collegiate head coach. His 2018 Truman State squad was the GLVC’s co-West Division champion, and three of his teams have won the conference’s Sportsmanship Award.
He and his wife, Kylie, have three children – son Jase, and daughters Avery and Riley.
