Vanderbilt Commodores men’s basketball great Shan Foster, who is currently Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s director of Community Engagement, has been selected for induction into the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2025.
Foster and the other three inductees will be recognized at a banquet Aug. 2 in New Orleans.
Shan FosterAt 6’6”, Foster was a four-year starter and a three-time captain at Bonnabel High School in Kenner, the largest public school system in Louisiana. He was named First Team All-State, the Metro Most Valuable Player and all-district. As a senior he averaged 23.4 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks per game as he led the Bruins to the district championship in 2004.
After being recruited by schools around the country, he chose to play for the Vanderbilt Commodores. As a freshman (2004-05), he was selected to the SEC’s All-Rookie Team after averaging 9.2 points per game and burying 44.5 percent of his three-point attempts. In 2005-06, his numbers jumped to 15.9 points per game as he earned First-Team All-SEC recognition. The team reached the NIT both years.
The Commodores went 22-12 in 2006-07 and 26-8 in 2007-08, making the NCAA Tournament both years.
Foster graduated as Vanderbilt’s all-time leading scorer with 2,011 points and the school’s all-time leader with 367 three-pointers. As a senior, he was named SEC Player of the Year by a poll of coaches and by the Associated Press, as well as an AP All-American and a Rivals.com First-Team All-American.
He was selected by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round. But then he realized something else about himself.
“I realized my dream was to get drafted by the NBA, not to have a long NBA career,” Foster said. “The purpose for my life was much bigger than basketball. It was about making a difference in other people’s lives.”
He spent multiple years in the NBA Summer League, played overseas in Italy, Belgium and Turkey, and chose to retire from the sport in 2013.
“I truly believe that basketball was the vehicle to carry me to what I do now,” he said.
Foster, who has done extensive work to end violence against women and girls and has mentored young people, is the director of Community Engagement in the Office of Development at VUMC. He’s also the co-founder of Fostering Healthy Solutions LLC, an organization that cultivates healthy solutions to various issues through education, training and execution.
“I’ve been able to transition in such a way that when I’m in the airport, people come up to me and say thank you for what you’ve done to end domestic violence, thank you for what you’ve done for education, thank you for your leadership, thank you for investing in my town. That’s what’s most important,” he said. “They remember the jump shots, the threes, the wins, but what folks are most proud of, what matters the most in the world, is what I’ve done after basketball.”
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