Drury men’s basketball head coach Chris Foster announced the hiring of Miles Lester as an assistant coach to the program.
Lester joins the Panthers after serving on the staff for the top-ranked team in all of college basketball during part of last season as he served as the Assistant Video Coordinator and Player Development Coach at the University of Houston. He was part of a Houston Cougars team that was ranked number one in Division I college basketball in February and March and ended the season 32-5. Houston won the regular season championship in the Big 12, advanced to the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament, and the coaching staff received national recognition as head coach Kelvin Sampson was named the Coach of the Year by the National Basketball Coaches Association and the Associated Press.
“We are excited to welcome Miles to our staff,” said Foster. “He comes highly recommended after serving the last two years on coach Kelvin Sampson’s staff at the University of Houston. Miles is a tireless worker and has a great understanding of the game. As a former collegiate player at both Rice and Wake Forest, he understands what it takes to be a successful student-athlete. Miles has strong Midwest ties in both Wichita and Kansas City that will help us continue to recruit quality student-athletes that fit not only our basketball program but Drury University as a whole.”
While at Houston, Lester prepared video edits, wrote scouting reports, and assisted in player development sessions. He worked as a graduate manager for the Cougars in 2022-23, assisting the video coordinator in creating video scouts and analytical reports from practices and games.
As a student-athlete, Lester played one season at Rice before transferring to Wake Forest and spent four years with the Demon Deacons. He earned a place on the ACC Academic Honor Roll and served for two years as the team’s representative on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee while seeing action in 16 games. Lester played in 29 games and made five starts as a freshman at Rice, where he had three double-figure scoring games and shot 38 percent from the three-point range for the Owls. He was also named to the Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll.
Originally from Overland Park, Kansas, Lester attended Wilbraham and Monson Academy in Wilbraham, Mass., where he was named All-New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) Honorable Mention as a senior.
He graduated from Wake Forest University with a degree in Business and Enterprise Management and has a Master’s degree in Sport and Fitness Administration from the University of Houston.
Lester will join a coaching staff that includes Foster, who will enter his fourth season as the Panthers head coach, and Marc Sonnen, who completed his first year as a Drury assistant.
