Bud Foster (1906-1996)
Teams coached: Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin record: 265-267 (.498)
Overall record: 265-267 (.498)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 1 (1941)
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 2 (1941, 1947)
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 0
- NCAA Tournament Final Four: 1 (1941)
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 0
- Big Ten Regular Season Champion: 3 (1935, 1941, 1947)
- Helms Foundation National Championships: 1 (1941)
Awards:
- Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted 1964)
- National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted 2006)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
1934-1959 | Wisconsin |
1933-1934 | Wisconsin (freshmen) |
Bud Foster Facts
- Harold E. Foster
- Born May 30, 1906
- Died June 16, 1996
- Hometown: Newton, Kansas
- Alma Mater: University of Wisconsin (BA, 1930)
- Growing up in Kansas and Mason City, Iowa, Foster was two-time All-Big Ten at Wisconsin under head coach Doc Meanwell
- After graduating, Foster played professionally with the Oshkosh All-Stars (alongside fellow Hall-of-Famer Branch McCracken)
- Returned to his alma mater in 1933 to be the Badgers’ freshman coach; became the varsity head coach a year later
- Would coach the Badgers for 25 seasons, winning 265 games during that stretch
- Claimed three Big Ten titles and reached two NCAA Tournaments; led Wisconsin to their first and only NCAA title in 1941
- Retired in 1959 with the most wins in program history, a mark that would later be passed by Bo Ryan
- After his coaching career, Foster was the President of the NABC and served on the Basketball Rules Committee
- Foster also worked in broadcasting, teaming with Ted Moore to call Badgers games
- Inducted into the Naismith HOF in 1964 and the inaugural 2006 class of the College Basketball HOF
- Also a member of the Wisconsin Athletics Hall of Fame; known around the program as “Mr. Wisconsin”
Bud Foster Coaching Tree
- John Erickson (Wisconsin)