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Show New coach begins work 1 I i i , : . . i V I - ' A . I : : -. : ? 1 , -: : i . . Ni-f Lit BY RICK SORENSEN Sports Editor Utah's new head basketball coach Bill Foster is losing no time in organizing his program for the next few months. Monday afternoon the Foster family greeted University Uni-versity officials and the area press at a reception in die Special Events Center Alumni Lounge. Tuesday he went about setting his own responsibilities in order as former head basketball coach Jack Gardner's assistants were interviewed about the future of the University basketball program. Coach Foster Fos-ter indicates his mind is still open as far as his assistants are concerned. Before making any decisions as to who will fill the positions, he wants to interview those persons who appear to be in position for the jobs. Varsity Meets Coach Next year's varsity hopefuls had their first opportunity to meet with the former Rutgers coach Tuesday afternoon when he let it be known that with a new coach at the helm, everyone would be starting fresh and have die same opportunity to make the team as any other adilete. "Widi a new coach the attitude of all die players should be on a positive plane, kind of like turning over a new leaf in life," said die coach. Basically, die Utes will remain the "Runnin' Redskins," with their style of play as Coach Foster expects to initiate a somewhat deliberate type of game taking die percentage shots. "I've tried both styles of play, running all the time and playing for the percentage shot, and have found no consistent advantage to the running run-ning game. We will run as the opportunity presents itself, but not to the point of causing unnecessary turnovers." Studies Each Player He backs his philosophy by studying each player to determine where the player (continued on page 5) . . .meets prospective varsity ' -OACH BILL FOSTER -will select assistants New coach arrives (continued from page 1) most consistently makes his shots. Coach Foster then lets the player know which shots are the percentage percent-age shots. By analyzing each k player in that respect Foster knows how to set up his offense in the most effective way. In a similar respect the coach also has a program in which each player is analyzed, after which a critique is sent to the athlete telling his in what areas he needs to improve. This aspect is stressed in the off-season when Mr. Foster leaves the responsibility of the team's workouts to a set of captains cap-tains chosen in the spring especially espe-cially for that purpose. "The most important part of basketball which I stress most in work is instilling pride in each athlete individually and as a team. Pride and confidence are the keys to a successful team," he said. At the moment, the new mentor men-tor will have to rely mostly on the recruiting which Jack Gardner and his assistants have performed. May 1 , a large percentage of star high school athletes will sign letters of intent as to the university they will attend. "It would be unethical uneth-ical for me to contact the boys back East whom I had previously "recruited for Rutgers. "There are a couple of prospects who might be interested in playing at Utah, but no definite commitments have been made. Well just have to see," said Foster. Bill Foster is in Utah to stay, assuming his duties immediately. His wife, Shirley, will be house hunting for now and will then return to New Jersey while their three children complete the school year. |