Things were not easy for Caleb Foster in his sophomore season at Duke.
He’s doubling down on his work and returning for a junior season, though.
“Growing up, it’s always been a dream of mine, chasing championships here at Duke,” Foster said on the latest episode of The Brotherhood Podcast, released Thursday morning. “That has not changed at all and I’m excited to announce that I’ll be coming back for my junior year to keep going and keep pursuing to get that national championship No. 6.”
Foster started Duke’s first seven games of this past season and saw his role fluctuate and change over the course of the season.
His best game out of those first seven was a 13-point game, with three 3-pointers, against Wofford. In Duke’s three games against Kentucky, Arizona and Kansas, Foster had a combined 18 points on a combined 6-for-20 shooting.
The 6-5, 202-pounder’s first game off the bench was against Auburn, in which he scored 11 points.
But that was his last double-digit scoring game for two months. He played three minutes, in which he was 0-for-3 from the field, in Duke’s loss at Clemson. That was shortly after he had back-to-back scoreless showings in 7 minutes each against N.C. State and North Carolina.
Foster had some high-scoring games in limited minutes off the bench late in the season — 10 points in six minutes against Stanford, 12 points in seven minutes against Illinois. Both of those were blowouts in which he didn’t enter the game until the outcome had been decided.
He was Duke’s only available player who did not enter the last home game, against Wake Forest on March 3. That was the only game of the season Foster didn’t play; the first game he missed since the last nine of his freshman season, after he suffered a foot injury.
Redemption came in the second half of Duke’s win at UNC; Foster played nine minutes and while his stat line of two points, one rebound, one assist, one block doesn’t jump off the page, he helped spark the Blue Devils to a win.
Foster had 12 points in Duke’s first-round win against Mount St. Mary’s in the NCAA tournament, and six points and three assists against Baylor in the second round. The Harrisburg, N.C., native played strong minutes in the first half of Duke’s Final Four loss to Houston; Foster’s four rebounds in San Antonio matched a season high.
Foster’s return gives the Blue Devils at least one experienced guard for next season’s roster. Cayden Boozer and Shelton Henderson are signed in the freshman class; Tyrese Proctor could either return for his senior season or enter the NBA draft; and Sion James’ eligibility has been exhausted
