One of his students in a typing class at Abington Senior High School was the daughter of Harry Litwack, the longtime basketball coach at Temple University.

[4] Foster and Litwack became friends and business partners, and for about 25 years they operated a popular summer basketball camp in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains.

Bill Foster's greatest success as a head coach would come at Duke, taking over a struggling program with a proud history that was searching for stability and strong leadership.

Duke, taking on eighth-ranked rival North Carolina pulled off a shocker in upsetting the Tar Heels 99–96 in overtime.

The young Blue Devils, full of potential but still a fragile unit, would never recover but the next year would produce a season that would nearly stun the college basketball world.

In addition to talented returnees Spanarkel and Gminski, Foster added Indiana transfer Bob Bender who was on the Hoosiers' legendary undefeated 1976 NCAA championship team and stunned everyone by getting a verbal commitment from one of the top players in America, Gene Banks.

Joining Banks were two good players in Kenny Dennard and John Harrell from nearby North Carolina Central.

It looked like the ride would end in the national semifinals, as Duke would be facing a 6th-ranked Notre Dame team in the semi-final that fielded eight future NBA players.

Duke fought admirably, but Kentucky was too experienced and had the weight of the world on their shoulders from fans back in the bluegrass who wanted that long-awaited title.

The Devils dispatched 14th-ranked North Carolina to win the Big Four Tournament for the first time, but chemistry issues and bad luck with injuries would not recapture the magic of 1978.

Duke had another solid season in 1979–80, defeating second-ranked Kentucky in an early-season matchup and winning another Big Four Tournament over 6th ranked North Carolina 86–74.

After Dennard returned, Duke regrouped and won the 1980 ACC tournament, finished 14th in the AP poll, tallied a 24–9 season, advancing to the Elite Eight after an upset of Kentucky in the sweet 16 in Rupp Arena.

He compiled a winning nonconference record, including victories over regional rivals Marquette, DePaul and Loyola of Chicago.

But two freshman starters on that 1990–91 squad, point guard Patrick Baldwin and forward-center Kevin Rankin, would go on to lead the Wildcats to the 1994 NIT as seniors.

[9] After Ricky Byrdsong was hired as his successor as coach, Foster continued as interim athletic director until the end of August.

He was a longtime member of the board of trustees of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., serving as chairman from 1996 to 1998.