Utah Hoops - Foster frustrated by injury, hopeful for the future

The good news for David Foster is that he still has hope.

Doctors are optimistic for a full recovery and return to hoops after he gets his injured foot surgically repaired next week. Even if it will keep him out for the season, and end his Utah career on the court, Foster is confident he can return to the game he loves and play at the professional level.

In the meantime, Utah fans should expect to see a lot of him. He will stay around the team as much as possible, sit on the bench during games and stay connected with the program as it continues to grow under Larry Krystkowiak.

"It's definitely frustrating," Foster said. "Truth be told, this is the team I was looking forward to playing with. There's a lot of chemistry here, and that's what it takes to be successful."

Foster has been with the program since 2006, and has seen it undergo many changes. In many ways, he's the poster-boy of a program that's struggled for six years. He's seen three coaches during his time.

This was the season he was going to provide the defensive presence he did in 2009, when he was the best defender in the Mountain West Conference.

But fate would have it otherwise. He first felt discomfort late last week, but brushed it off to being sore. The pain persisted. Finally he got it checked out, and it revealed horrible news.

"Unfortunately, if the foot was going to break, there wasn't much we could do about it," Kyrstkowiak said. "We were looking forward to having Dave play with us. Now, others are going to have to step up."

Krystkowiak confirmed that freshman Jordan Loveridge is going to play the majority of his minutes at power forward this season. The rookie out of West Jordan High is seen as a potential star, once he gets used to the speed of the college game.

Also sophomore center Dallin Bachynski will see time as well.

There's optimism because the Utes have much more size than they did a season ago. In that sense, Foster's loss can at least be accounted for.

Still, Foster wanted to play basketball. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't to be. At least not this season.

Tony Jones