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Utah’s David Foster to have surgery, college career over

David Foster

Utah center David Foster listens to a question during PAC-12 Conference NCAA college basketball media day, Friday, Oct. 28, 2011, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Gus Ruelas)

AP

In more news from the Twitter world, Jay Drew of the Salt Lake Tribune tweeted out that Utah center David Foster will have surgery on his foot and as a result, his season and his college career are over.

The tweet went out as so.

More bad news for Utah basketball center David Foster. He re-injured his foot, will need more surgery. College career is over.

The 7-3 senior will try for a professional career after this season, Drew mentioned in a later tweet.

Foster missed last season with the same injury and was granted a fifth year as a result. I would guess that if he wanted it bad enough, Foster could get a sixth year, being as how willing the NCAA is to give them out — Minnesota’s Trevor Mbakwe is the highest profile sixth-year player in recent memory.

Problem is, with most sixth-year seniors, that’s a risk that a lot of them have to really be willing to take, whether it’s for personal or collegiate pride. Sixth years can be a blessing and a curse. Players risk further injury, a dip in production that could lead to a dip in any pro aspirations or, what I see as the most hurtful result, a loss of confidence that can affect all aspects of a player’s and a team’s approach.

As a junior in 2010-11, Foster, a Lake Forest, Calif. native, averaged 2.9 points and 5.4 rebounds for the Utes.

From a team standpoint, losing Foster is a kick in the teeth to a team that has almost no experience in the post for the 2012-13 season.

Utah returns their leading scorer in 6-10 senior Jason Washburn, who averaged 11.4 points per game last season. The experience ends there.

The Utes brought in a slew of transfers. First, another 7-footer in Southern Utah transfer Dallin Bachynski, a sophomore, and 6-9 junior Renan Lenz out of Arizona Western College. They also added 6-10 sophomore Harry Whitt, a transfer from Southern Illinois, and 6-7 redshirt sophomore Xan Ricketts from Simon Frazier (Utah) University (?). Two first-year players hit the roster in 6-10 redshirt freshman Jeremy Olsen and 6-6 true freshman Jordan Loveridge.

The Utes are going to have a tough time against teams with any depth in the post. Bodies can help, but bodies that are getting used to a new style of play and a new conference (or Division I in general) will have limited effectiveness. I can’t see last season’s 6-25 record getting too much better unless coach Larry Krystkowiak finds some additional eligibility for Keith Van Horn and Andre Miller.

This may be the biggest rebuilding job in Division I this season.

David Harten is the editor of The Backboard Chronicles. You can follow him on Twitter at @David_Harten.