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CHARLOTTE, N.C.-- Bill Foster, 79, who led Virginia Tech to the 1995 NIT Championship and the 1996 NCAA Tournament, passed away on Wednesday afternoon in Charlotte, North Carolina after a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease.

The native of Hemingway, South Carolina is the only coach to serve as the head coach of three current Atlantic Coast Conference institutions (Clemson, Miami and Virginia Tech) and is among a handful of coaches in NCAA history to have multiple 20-win seasons at four different schools.

Foster coached the Hokies from 1991 until his retirement in 1997 and posted a 101-78 record at Tech. He completed his 30-year college coaching career with a 532-325 overall record. On December 31, 1995, the Hokies defeated Wright State in New Orleans to give Foster his 500^th career victory. His 101 victories rank as the fifth-best total in Virginia Tech history.

To honor Foster, the Virginia Tech men’s basketball game-day locker room and player suite is named in his honor.

Born on April 1, 1936, Foster had 21 winning seasons and 11 seasons with at least 20 victories. He coached Clemson and Virginia Tech to the NCAA Tournament and had a 4-2 record in NCAA Tournament games for his career.

A noted program builder, he started the basketball program at the Division I level at Charlotte and restarted the University of Miami program after a 15-year absence in 1985.

Foster actually began his coaching career while he was a senior at Carson Newman College in Tennessee. In his final year as a cum laude student, he coached the Carson Newman freshman team to a 19-1 record. Foster became the head coach at Marion (S.C.) High School in 1959 and led that program to a 42-21 record in three years.

From Marion High, Foster became head basketball coach and Director of Athletics at Shorter College in Rome, Georgia. He coached the NAIA program to a 110-31 record in five years, and won at least 22 games each of his last four seasons. He earned berths in the district playoffs each of his last three years. Foster was named Georgia Intercollegiate Coach of the Year in 1965 and 1966, was the Area NAIA Coach of the Year in 1965, and was one of five finalists for national NAIA Coach of the Year in 1965.

After five seasons at Shorter, he took a post as assistant coach at The Citadel in 1967 and remained with the Charleston, South Carolina based military school for two seasons.

Following his tenure at The Citadel, Foster took on the challenge of bringing the UNC Charlotte program to the Division I level. In just five years under Foster’s guidance, Charlotte (the school’s name today) had an 87-39 record, including a 46-7 record over the last two seasons. He also held the post of Director of Athletics for his final two years.

Foster became the head coach at Clemson in April of 1975 and he held the position until the end of the 1983-84 season. Despite inheriting a program on a three-year probation, he registered a record of 156-106. The 156 victories still rank second in Clemson history.

Foster left Clemson in 1984 to restart the University of Miami (Florida) basketball program. He spent the 1984-85 season developing the program. The Hurricanes began competition in 1985-86. Foster posted a 78-71 record with Miami (FL), including a 19-win season in 1988-89. The victory total included an 87-86 victory over defending NCAA Champion, Kansas.

Foster spent the 1990-91 season in broadcasting, but his desire to return to the sidelines and help build the careers of young men brought him out of retirement and to the head coaching position at Virginia Tech.

Foster retired after the 1996-97 season. In his retirement years he was honored by many institutions. In 2001, he was inducted into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2005 he received the Bobby Roberts Award from the Augusta Sports Council for his lifetime contributions to basketball. In 2007 he was inducted into the Shorter College Hall of Fame.

Foster was a 1958 graduate of Carson Newman. He earned a Masters degree from the University of Tennessee in 1961.

He is survived by his wife Linda, daughters Leslie and Laura and many grandchildren.

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