K-State Basketball Player Preview: SG Marcus Foster
By Dave Thoman
Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
As we continue looking forward to the start of college basketball season in early November, our early preview of the team continues with another freshman, #2 Marcus Foster. Foster, a shooting guard, is a true freshman expected to contribute his first year on campus. He hails from Wichita Falls, TX, and offers an intriguing scoring ability as the potential future replacement of senior Will Spradling.
Foster is 6’2″ and appears to have bulked up a solid 15 points since his senior year of high school, weighing 200 pounds now. A three-star recruit, he was ranked the #40 shooting guard in the nation with offers from Cal, Creighton, and Oklahoma, among others. However, he committed early in the process – giving Bruce Weber his verbal commitment early on in September last year – and looks like the best player in Weber’s inaugural recruiting class.
Foster was a good prospect last fall, and I was happy to see him choose to become a Wildcat. After his senior year, I was elated. Foster was named the Texas 3A player of the year, as voted by the state’s association of basketball coaches. That honor followed a season in which he averaged over 27 points and 11 rebounds, leading Hirschi High School in most statistical categories. It’s good to see Foster is a capable rebounding, but even more important is his ability to knock down three pointers. K-State had a hard time banging inside last season, but was effective in spreading the floor, passing the ball around, and running plays to get players open.
Every high school player’s coach is expected to say positive things about their players, but I still like the review Foster received from his high school coach Donald Hedge. Hedge spoke at length about his versatility this year, and made Foster’s ability to play multiple spots promising:
"Marcus is one of the guys who can do it all. I’ve had him guard 6-8 guys and shut them down. He can post up players, he can shoot the ball like nobody else and he can beat you on the floor. I would say his natural position is point guard, but he shoots the ball so well you can play him on the wing. He is so big and strong you can also play him inside. I would imagine Kansas State’s coaches are going to do some things to get him on the wing. He is so diverse it’s going to be easy to find ways to use him. I would imagine he will play a bunch as a freshman, if not start. He’s that good."
K-State lost a lot of talent between graduation and transfers this year. It’s good to see players like this coming into the program.
Click a link below to read the rest of our player previews: