Chris Foster is in his fourth season as the head basketball coach at Drury and his 11th year as a collegiate head coach in 2024-25.
Foster's rebuilding efforts at Drury took a significant step forward in 2023-24 as the Panthers finished the season 15-13, a six-game improvement from the previous year. The Panthers featured All-Great Lakes Valley Conference selection sophomore Logan Applegate, while Brock Wakefield was named to the All-Defensive Team, and Juok Riak was named to 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 a program around, he laid the foundation for a squad that has been one the best teams in Division II as the Bulldogs advanced to the Elite Eight and were ranked as high as number two 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 spent reached the NBA and saw time with the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Houston Rockets.
Foster is the 20th head coach in Drury's 113-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, Missouri, 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 he ranks 41st on Northern Iowa'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 151-128 in 10 seasons as a collegiate head coach . His 2018 Truman State squad was the co-West Division champion in the league, and three of his teams won the conference's Sportsmanship Award.
He and his wife Kylie have three children – son Jase (16) and daughters Avery (13) and Riley (8).
(officially, Foster's career record is 147-128 after the NCAA vacated four wins in 2021-22)
