Point Loma Nazarene University’s (PLNU) longtime golf coach Ben Foster was voted in to the National Athletic Interscholastic Association (NAIA) 2008-09 Hall of Fame class on Sept. 19. “I wasn’t aware that I would be named, but I am very pleased and honored to be recognized,” Foster said. The Hall of Fame honor is the highest bestowed by the NAIA. Individuals inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame must be persons of outstanding quality, high moral character and fine leadership and must be held in high esteem by their colleagues, former coaches and former athletes. Foster will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at the 2009 NAIA Men’s Golf National Championships in Davenport, Iowa on May 18. Foster has been connected with the PLNU sports program since 1964, when he played basketball at the former Pasadena College as a freshman. His accomplishments as a player were outstanding, leading his team to an overall record of 82-49. Foster scored 1,786 points and 1,324 rebounds and made an NAIA National Tournament appearance in 1967. Foster was also named MVP three times and was a three-time all-district player and had two honorable mention All-American selections. In 1967, he was drafted by the American Basketball Association’s (ABA) Los Angeles Stars but decided to return to his alma mater. Foster was also the men’s basketball coach at Pasadena College and holds the school record in winning percentage for that sport at 310-232. In 1972, the college moved to its present site in Point Loma to become PLNU, and Foster moved with it. Two years later, in 1974, he assumed the position of head coach for the PLNU golf program. Since 1974, Foster has brought PLNU to the NAIA National Championships 18 times, finished with a top-10 ranking 10 times, won seven NAIA District III titles, four region II titles and coached 17 All-American golfers. He has also served as president of the NAIA Golf Coaches Association, as rater of the NAIA Region II and golf sports chairman of Region II. Besides his accomplishments as a coach, many of his former players have gone on to become professional golf instructors. “You don’t get an honor like this unless you had very good players and good teams,” Foster said. Foster’s entire playing and coaching has been at Pasadena College/PLNU, but he said he has no regrets. “It has made it even more special because I have been able to teach and coach something that I love and have had a chance to do that at my alma mater,” he said. Foster becomes the seventh Pasadena College/PLNU NAIA Hall of Fame inductee behind Jim Bond, Jim Crakes, Lloyd Higgins, Bob Hopkins, Carroll Land and Barbara Wnek. When asked if he had any plans to step down in the near future, Foster said, “I was just asked that the other day by a recruit and I told I have no intentions of leaving {soon}. We are all day-to-day anyways. I’m enjoying the journey right now and take one week at a time. I’m a competitive person and enjoy working with the players. I really don’t have any plans to retire.”