Click here to e-mail
Associate Head Coach Buddy Foster has brought a wealth ofexperience to the SIUE softball program. He joined the program in2009 and immediately made an impact on the development of theCougars.
Foster oversees the development of SIUE's hitters. Off thefield, he is the Cougars' recruiting coordinator and works withalumni relations, scheduling, and compliance as well as assistswith fund-raising and academics.
Foster previously served one season as an associate head coachat the University of Kansas until the Kansas head coach'sretirement. He spent three seasons as the head coach at Bradley andwas the fourth winningest coach in Braves' history with 63victories. He led Bradley to its first winning season as a programin more than 10 years with a 25-23 record during in initial seasonwith the Braves in 2006. In his three seasons at Bradley, theprogram's grade point average was ranked among the top 25 NCAADivision I schools.
Prior to Bradley, Foster spent six years as an assistant coachat SIU Carbondale. The Salukis posted a 239-103 (.699) overallrecord and a 103-40 (.720) mark in Missouri Valley Conference (MVC)play. The Salukis were ranked No. 20 in the final 2005 NFCA regularseason poll and set a school record with 67 home runs. Foster alsocoached Amy Harre who would go on to become the No. 1 draft pick inthe 2005 National Pro Fastpitch draft.
During his tenure with Southern Illinois, he helped coach 14first team All-MVC picks, 19 first team All-MVC scholar-athletesand three Academic All-Americans. The 2005 team also set recordsSaluki records which still stand today, including most RBIs (268),most runs (302), and most hits (440).
Foster earned a bachelor's degree from Southeast Missouri StateUniversity in 1991. He worked as a graduate assistant with SEMO'ssoftball program in 1992 and 1993. After a season as an assistantcoach for John A. Logan College in 1996, he returned to SEMO in1998 as a recruiting and travel coordinator as well as pitchingcoach, guiding a pair of hurlers to OVC Pitcher of the Year honors.SEMO won two OVC regular season crowns and made two appearances inthe NCAA Tournament.
